Late Night Radio Edition 2
by Jheya Ono
Summary: Five years apart, neither happy alone. A chance remeeting, but so much unknown... A chance for the future, for an end to the past. But will it go wrong? The silence can't last... *TAITO* Yama'a POV. >>PT.6 uploaded.
1. Song Words

Alemi: *sarcastically* Oh such the original title.

Me: Shut up. You're not even meant to be in my author's notes, it's bad enough that you've taken over my profile-

Alemi: That's because it was boring.

Me: *sighs* Hello! Anyone who's read my fic, 'Late Night Radio' will know what this is about. Anyone who doesn't…

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Disclaimer: In the TV series, does Matt end up with Tai? No, so Digimon isn't mine, is it?

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Warning: As you may have gathered from that disclaimer, this is a TAITO fic. That's yaoi, shounen-ai, or whatever you want to call it. Two guys romantically linked. Don't like it? I suggest you leave now.

Right. This is the companion fic to LNR, showing things from Matt's POV. People seemed to think it wasn't a bad idea, so I thought, hey, why not, and here it is. Again, I'd like to stress that I have no idea how radio stations really work, so please don't yell at me because of technicalities. Erm… 

The Matt/Tai dialogue IS the same as in the other one. This is not because I'm being lazy, it really is necessary so the two fics match up! The rest is all new, and different.

Thanks and the dedication for this chapter must go to Natsu for agreeing to beta this, and for her enthusiasm for it, as it also rubbed off on me, and inspired me to write. Nothing else to say, so on with the fic…

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Late Night Radio (Edition 2)

Song Words

Ishida Yamato stared out of the limousine window at the yellow street lamps that flashed past, looking for inspiration. He glanced back down at the pad of paper in his lap, and chewed at his lower lip thoughtfully. He only needed a few more lines to finish the song he was writing, but what to write?...

Looking out of the window again, a wide smile broke across his face as he saw small white flecks begin to spiral down out of the sky. Snow... It made him seem like a big kid, but he loved the snow. It always made him feel happy, and brought back good memories for him, particularly the strange time it had fallen when he had been at summer camp when he was eleven...

The blonde's blue eyes widened slightly as inspiration struck, and he picked up his pen and began to jot down lyrics. He hummed softly as he did so, making sure that they fitted into the tune that he had already created in his mind.

"...And every time, when the snow falls... It reminds me of you..." he muttered, and then surveyed his work critically. He smiled, and put the lid back on his pen with a satisfying click. Finished. He leant back into the seat and closed his eyes with a sigh. A few minutes later he frowned, and opened them again. Damn, he wasn't tired enough to simply fall asleep.

Then again, what time was it anyway? He glanced at his watch. Nearly midnight, so he ought to feel sleepy...but he didn't. It wasn't as if he had woken up particularly late that morning, so what had upset his sleep pattern this time? Probably it was because he and his band had just gotten some time off for the fast approaching Christmas holidays. It wasn't that he didn't like being in a band. In fact it was quite the opposite, he adored being in the Teenage Wolves, and not just because of the millions and the fame that went with being a megastar. He loved it because it had been his dream to make it big, ever since that band had formed years ago. But still it was nice to get away for a few weeks, as the collective insanity of the other band members could get overwhelming if endured for long periods of time.

Yamato decided to just sit still and enjoy the peace for a moment, but soon found himself fidgeting. Leaning forward in his seat, he spoke to the chauffeur.

"Er, hey, Hitoshi?"

Their eyes met in the rear-view mirror.

"Yes, Ishida-san?"

"Can you recommend a good radio station?"

"For this time of night? I'd try 97.6."

The singer frowned slightly. The number sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Which station is that?"

"KPLD."

"Hey, that's the one with DJ Chi, isn't it?" The driver nodded affirmation, and Yamato realised why the number had sounded familiar. Several people had recommended the show to him... But not just that. Lots of people had recommended lots of things to him over the years, but that particular one had stuck in his mind for two reasons. One was that it sounded kind of cheesy, and the second was that it reminded him of someone he once knew, but had lost touch with. He had never tuned in before however, had always been too busy, and not especially interested. It was meant to be good though...

"Hey, why not." he said to himself with a shrug. "Let's see if this guy is as good as he's made out to be..."

He quickly tuned into the station, and sat back to listen, his mind already beginning to drift, back to past things remembered.

"And that's it from me," a female voice chirped brightly. "Now it's over to DJ Chi for our late night music feature!"

A new voice cut in.

"Hi there everyone, this is DJ Chi, here with you from midnight through to six in the morning."

Yamato was jolted from his thoughts at that voice, and sat bolt upright in his seat It couldn't be... His chauffeur looked at him, concerned, in the rear-view mirror.

"Yamato? Are you okay?" he asked, dropping the formalities in his anxiety over the welfare of his passenger.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." he replied faintly, still listening intently to the radio. "Don't worry about me..."

Hitoshi still looked worried, but didn't pursue the matter further.

"At this station, we're open to requests, so if you'd like to hear a particular song, then just give me a call!" DJ Chi continued. "The number, if you don't already know it, is..."

Yamato quickly flipped to a blank page of paper, and scribbled down the telephone number as it was read out. That done, he just stared at it, only half listening as the DJ talked for a short while longer, rousing a little when the music began. Kami-sama... It couldn't be, and yet it was. He hadn't heard that voice for five long years, but he'd know it anywhere. DJ Chi was none other than Yagami Taichi.

But now that he knew that, what the hell was he meant to do about it? Five years... He couldn't just call him up out of the blue, could he? If anyone had been watching him at that particular moment in time, they would have noticed that he looked uncharacteristically nervous. Uncharacteristic, that is, in comparison to the cool, calm persona he presented to the press, only showing his true emotions to his closest friends. He glanced at the number again, and felt a small smile begin to tug at his lips.

Why not? The present was as good a time as any, and there was no way in hell that he was going to let another five years slip by without getting in touch. It would haunt him forever if he did. He pulled out his cell phone and switched it on.

He dialled.

As he listened to it ring, waiting for someone to pick up on the other end, he gathered his composure. There was no way that he was going to appear anything other than calm. Just treat it like an interview or something…

"Hello, you've reached the KPLD radio station, how may I help you?" a cheerful female voice spoke a moment later.

"Hi, I'd like to be put through to DJ Chi, please."

"You're calling to request a song?"

"Yes, that's right." He answered smoothly. It would be of no use to say the truth, that no, he didn't want to request a song; he wanted to speak to his friend. Saying that would provoke too many awkward questions that he just wasn't in the mood to answer.

"Okay sir, I'll just have to put you on hold for a moment whilst I put you through to him…"

"Fine."

Listening to the inane 'hold' music in one ear, and the radio in the other, Yamato used those few moments to organise his thoughts. Hmm… Maybe he shouldn't just come out with, "Hey, I'm Yamato Ishida, remember me?" Thinking about it, that would probably be a bad idea. He _could_ have a little fun with Taichi… Now that sounded like a much better idea. He'd always wondered what would happen if he was an anonymous and highly irritating caller; what reaction he'd get. And also it'd give him a chance to see if his friend still recognised his voice…

The current song ended just then, and he turned down the volume of the radio just as DJ Chi answered the phone and spoke to him.

"Hi, caller One!"

"Hi, DJ…" he paused momentarily to stop himself adding the 'Tai' part in. "Chi."

The reply wasn't instantaneous, and the blonde began to wonder whether if his friend had realised it was him…then was inordinately disappointed when he was answered as a regular caller. Damn.

"So… How are you this fine winter night?"

"Oh, not too bad I guess…" he answered easily. "But then again, I've always liked snowy weather. Brings back good memories." It was true of course, but the singer was hoping that Taichi would catch the subtle reference back to that fateful summer camp when they were eleven. The first time they had met each other.

"Snow?"

"Yes, snow. Or haven't you looked out of the window yet tonight?"

"No, I haven't." came the faint reply, and for a moment the blonde thought that his friend had caught on. He thought wrong. "Well that's good to see." He came out with, and Yamato swore under his breath as he continued to talk about snow and Christmas to all the radio listeners. Was Taichi deliberately being stupid or something? Because it sure felt like it…

"So… Caller One, do you have a name?"

"Yes." He replied automatically, only half-listening.

"And, er, are you going to tell me this name, or shall I just continue calling you 'Caller One'?"

"I'll think about it." He teased, only Taichi didn't seem to quite get the joke.

"Er, right."

The blonde decided that he had better give his friend a bit more of a clue, as otherwise he ran a distinct risk of being hung up on.

"All right, all right, it's Yamato."

"Gnh."

That was as much of a response as he got.

"Hey, are you all right?" he asked, concerned.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry." By the surprised tone, although he was trying to hide it, maybe his voice had been recognised. So what was Taichi going to do about it? "So, Yamato, what song would you like to hear?"

Chikusho! By the sound of it he was going to do absolutely nothing. He flipped his pad of paper back to the page he had written his lyrics down on. Right, one last, huge hint as to his identity, and if Taichi didn't get it then he didn't know what he'd do…

"Actually DJ…Chi, I think we should do things a little differently."

"Ye-es… And how would that be?"

"I think _I_ should sing you a song." And he launched into the song he had completed only minutes before, before his friend had the chance to say anything.

"Well…" Taichi stuttered when he finished a few minutes later, and Yamato smiled to himself. Finally… "Unless I'm very much mistaken, that was Yamato Ishida, lead singer and guitarist for the Teenage Wolves. If you haven't heard of them, then where have you been for the past five years? Hi, Yamato, it's an honour to have you on the show! How are you and the rest of the band doing?"

"Oh, not so bad." He laughed, but inwardly he felt confused. What was with the interview tactics? That wasn't the sort of thing you said to a friend, and that's what they were, right? Then again, it had been a long time… He pushed away his doubts and continued talking in the same casual tones. "We're taking a break for Christmas right now, but we'll be back in the studio to record the new album early next year."

"And what was that song called that you just sang for all our lucky listeners?"

"I don't know about the 'lucky' part, but the song was…" He suddenly realised a slight oversight on his part. "Actually, it doesn't have a name yet. I've only just finished writing it. What do you think?"

"I think it's amazing."

"Really?" He was surprised at the sincerity held in Taichi's voice.

"Really."

"Well, that's good to hear, but then again, I always could rely on you, couldn't I? How you been Tai?" It wasn't exactly how he had wanted to start this re-acquaintance, but he couldn't think what else to say.

"Uh, well, you know…"

"Nah, actually, I don't." he said truthfully, but it didn't get taken quite the way he had meant it to be.

"Stop being difficult!"

Well, if he was going to be called 'difficult'…

"Who, me?"

"Yes, you."

"You'd be disappointed with me if I did."

"That's true" Taichi laughed, and in doing so audibly relaxed. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Neither have you."

"That's good to hear."

"Ditto."

"You wanna do this conversation later? Because, just in case you'd forgotten, this is still being broadcast across the country."

"Ah, all right then." He lied. He did not want to continue the conversation later, he wanted to continue it _now_. But displaying his stubborn streak live on air… His management wouldn't be too happy about that. "If that's what you want. I'll call back at the end of your shift. Er, what time's that again?"

"Six in the morning." The regret in Taichi's voice made him feel a bit better for some odd reason. "Look, if you stay awake until then, you're gonna be really tired and everything… Maybe you should just leave it-"

"Nah, not going to happen, I'm afraid." He cut in before the sentence could be completed. "You don't get rid of me that easily. I'll call back at…6:01. That okay?"

"Uh, yeah, sure…"

"Well, you better be there to answer it, or you're in trouble."

"I'll be here."

"Good. Talk to you later then Tai!"

"Yeah, talk to you later, Matt."

Yamato pressed the button to end the call, and just stared at the phone in his hand for a few moments. He barely noticed the silence that came form the radio, which was still playing quietly, for a short while before Taichi began to speak again, sounding slightly stunned.

"Ishida-san?" Hitoshi probed gently after some time.

"Hmm?" he murmured absently.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." He said happily, and really meant it. For some reason he was feeling a lot better all of a sudden… "Hitoshi?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know where the KPLD radio station is?"

"I do."

The blonde wondered whether the slightly amused tone was really there, or if he was just imagining it.

"Can you get me there for, say, 6am?"

"If that is what you want."

"Yeah, that's what I want to do. It's not like I have to be anywhere at a particular time… Er, you don't mind, do you?" he added, suddenly realising that he was asking for a particularly long extension to his scheduled trip, and that Hitoshi might have somewhere to get to, even if he did not. "If it's too much of a bother then I can always catch a taxi or something to get me there for six after you drop me off."

"It's no trouble Ishida-san." The chauffeur said firmly, and the singer was reassured. He had hired a limousine from Hitoshi's particular company, and had been driven by him enough times to know that when he said something, he meant it. "I'll just call in and let them know I'll be back later then scheduled."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Yamato leaned back and turned the radio back up to its previous volume. And as he let Taichi's voice wash over him, he barely noticed the time passing.

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To be continued...

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And that's all for now! It's on the same time scale as LNR, so I need to write another two chapters in order to get it up to the same point… But what did you think? Is it worth me writing the rest of it?

Hit the review button and let me know…please?


	2. Yamato to the Rescue

A/N:

*apologises profusely*

To anyone who has stayed around long enough to be reading this now:

Thank you for your patience.  I'm sorry that it's taking me forever to continue both versions of LNR, but my muses buggered off for a three month stretch, and are still rather reluctant to return.  Also I have…other issues to deal with, and so my fanfiction becomes rather low down on my list of priorities.

Also I haven't been in the right frame of mind to be writing this for a long time, and I can't see the situation changing any time soon.

Please be patient.  I haven't given up on this yet, even though it might seem as if I have.  The 4th part of LNR should, with any luck, be making an appearance some time soon, as it's nearly done.  But with the problem I've been having with access to ff.net, and my current (rather huge) workload…who knows?

Also please, to the person who did, and anyone else who may have felt tempted to do so, don't write reviews which say 'I hate you' over and over again.  It doesn't help me in the least.  Rather the opposite in fact.

Thank you for having taken the time to read this rather long author's note.  I hope the new chapter was worth waiting for.

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**Late Night Radio (Edition 2)  Pt.2**

**Yamato to the Rescue**

Nearly six hours later, Yamato's limousine was parked outside of the KPLD radio station, where it had been for several hours.  Hitoshi was snoozing quietly in the front.  The chauffeur had been rather hesitant to fall asleep, but the singer had assured him that he didn't mind in the slightest.

Taichi, a.k.a. DJ Chi, was just finishing off his set.  He was really rather good at it, the blonde thought idly, and he should know after having listened to the entire show.

"And that's it from me, DJ Chi!  See you tomorrow at midnight everyone.  Now it's over to Mark for this mornings news..."

A new voice took over, and Yamato turned the radio off, no longer interested.  He yawned and stretched.  Funny how he didn't really feel tired, even though he had been awake for so long.  In fact he felt almost...excited.  Pulling out his cell phone, he keyed in the number of the radio station, and then impatiently watched the second hand on his watch tick around.  It seemed to be going far too slowly...

As soon as the time changed to 6:01, he pressed the key to dial, and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello, you've reached KPLD radio station.  How may I help you?" a different receptionist than before answered.

"Hi, I'd like to speak to DJ Chi, please."

"I'm sorry, but DJ Chi's show has just ended, so you can't request a song now."

"I think you misunderstood me.  I'd like to actually speak to him, rather than making a request.  He can't have left the building yet."

"Erm..." she hesitated.  "I'm afraid that I can't do that as it's against company policy."

"Even though I'm a personal friend of his?" he countered with.

"Er..."

"I don't want to get you into trouble, but I really need to talk to Taichi." he said, determined to keep his word to his friend.  "Can you just put me through to the station manager?  I'll talk to him."

"Uh, sure, okay.  I'll just have to put you on hold for a few moments whilst I put you through..."

"That's fine by me."

Yamato drummed his fingers on the seat as he waited, hoping that he'd get through to a reasonable person for once.

"Yeah?" an irritated sounding man grunted.  So much for that hope.  There was nothing for it...

"Hi," he said coolly, practised disinterest and disdain in his voice, practice come of too many annoying interviewers who thrust microphones in your face, screamed questions in your ear, and talked out of their arses.  "I'd like to talk to Yagami Taichi."

"Well you can't."

"May I enquire why not?  After all, I am a personal friend of his."

"Yeah?  Then why don't you call his home phone number instead of bothering me?"

"Because he is currently still at the station, and it will take him some time to get home.  And I wish to speak to him now, rather than later."

"Well tough.  Goodb-"

"Don't you even want to know who I am before you hang up on me?"

"No."

"My name is Ishida Yamato."

There was a pause.

"Ha ha.  Very funny." he said, but didn't sound convinced.

"Try actually listening to my voice.  My name is Ishida Yamato."

"Yamato!" the station manager gasped.  "I'm so sorry..." he smarmed, and the singer was glad that he wasn't in the same room as him, as he would have probably punched the arse-kissing bastard in the face without any further ado.  He loathed and detested people who were only nice to him because he was famous.  "I didn't realise that it was you.  I can call you Yamato, can't I?"

"You didn't exactly give me much choice in the matter, did you?" he muttered to himself under his breath.  He cleared his throat and spoke loudly to cut through the excited babbling's of the man on the other end of the phone.  "Look, can I speak to Taichi now please?"

"Of course, of course...  I'll go get him now..."

"Good." he said, abruptly.

Yamato heard the clunk of the phone being put down on the desk, and a moment later, that station manager yelling for Taichi.

"Phone call for you!" he heard said excitedly, but the sounds were muffled, the speaker some distance from the mouthpiece.

He heard the receiver being lifted, and the cautiously spoken "Why?" perfectly clearly, and it made him smile.  Any tension he felt left him in that moment.

"Because it's me." he said, suppressing a laugh.  He heard his friend's sudden, sharp intake of breath, although he wasn't sure that the brunette was aware of having done so.

"Oh, hi Matt." came the curiously bland reply a moment later, although he sounded surprised.  Yamato picked up the conversation with a comment to that effect, and was amazed at how well it flowed from there.  He had expected there to be at least some awkwardness, a few silences as they talked.  After all, five years was a long time to be apart...  But, no, it all just flowed as well as it had when they had been in high school together.  He even hazarded a few guesses as to what his friend's reaction would be to various things he said, and was amazed at how accurate he was.

It was almost as if they had never been apart at all, it just went so naturally...  But actually, that wasn't quite true.  There was...something in the way Taichi was talking that made his half of the conversation seem oddly stilted.

"Is the station manager still in the room with you?" he asked a little while later, with a frown.  He had run through all the possibilities for his friend's guarded responses, and had come up with that one as the most likely...  Other than that of the brunette not really wanting to talk to him.  But if that was so, then he was one hell of a good actor as his happiness had sounded genuine enough to him...

"Yeah."  Taichi's voice cut through his thoughts, and Yamato let out a silent sigh of relief upon hearing that positive response.  Thank god...  "How did you know that?"

He went through some of his reasoning with him, enjoying their light-hearted banter more now that he knew the reason for the slightly stilted tone, and knew that it wasn't because of him.  Pretty soon, however, he heard the brunette yawn in the other end of the line, and a flicker of concern passed over his face.

"You really that tired, huh?" he asked, belatedly realising that as his friend had just come off a six hour shift, the last thing he probably needed was a long conversation keeping him awake.

"Uh-huh." came the mumbled reply.  It soon became obvious that he was far more tired than he was letting on...but still, despite this, he was still so keen to talk to him.  That realisation caused something to flutter, deep inside.  He wanted to talk with him that much?  It made him smile to himself, but didn't stop the growing sense of guilt.

"Perhaps I had better let you get some sleep then.  We don't want _you getting tired out."_

"No, don't." Tai pleaded, sounding miserable, and making Yamato feel even more guilty.  Damn him...  He had never met anyone else outside of his immediate family that was capable of making him feel that way.  "Just don't.  I like hearing your voice."

"So do I, Tai-chan.  So do I.  But you really sound like you could do with some rest.  I'll give you my number, you'll be able to call when you wake."

"It won't happen like that."

"Why not?"

"Because there'd be no chance of me getting any rest until _much much later."_

"Why?"  He was beginning to wonder if he was being particularly dense so as to not get it, or if Taichi was being particularly difficult.

"Question time."

"Huh?" he started, puzzled, then realisation dawned a moment later, and he groaned.  Kami, he was such a baka at times...  He swore at himself under his breath.  "Oh, your arse-hole of a boss, right?  Shit.  Sorry, I should have realised that he'd bug you with a million questions as soon as you finish the call.  Damn it."

"Not your fault."

"Yes it is." he sighed, still busy mentally berating himself and trying to think of a way to rectify the situation.  Suddenly, inspiration struck, and he grinned.  Now that might just work...  "Uh, hold on.  I have an idea."

"What?" was the cautious reply.  Had he always been so sceptical about his ideas?

"Nothing bad, and it'll work.  I'm sure of it.  Just do what I tell you to, okay?" he reassured him, praying that he would, and wasn't going to display that stubborn streak of his.

"Depends on what you ask me to do."

Okay, stubborn it is then...

"I _said it's nothing bad."_

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"Tai, just co-operate would you?" he said, exasperated.  "Now hang up."

"What?  Why?"  There was genuine bewilderment in his voice.

"Just do what I tell you to, would ya?"

"But..."

"No buts.  Do it!"

"Bye Matt."  His voice was so mournful that Yamato felt another pang of guilt at having caused that effect.

"Don't sound like that!  I'll see you in a minute, Tai." he said, and hung up before his friend could plead with him not to, because he knew that if he did, he'd give in.  Closing his eyes, he took a moment to compose himself before he gently shook Hitoshi by the shoulder.  The chauffeur awoke with a small grunt, and sleepily turned to look at him.

"Yes, Ishida-san?" he yawned.

"Listen, I'm sorry to have to wake you, but I'm going in there," here he pointed towards the radio station, "so that I can rescue my friend from the complete idiot that is his boss.  Can you be ready to leave as soon as I return?  I kinda want a quick get away."

"Sure, of course." the chauffeur grinned, looking more awake.  Yamato looked at him suspiciously.

"Why are you grinning at me?"

"No reason."

"Hmm."

"Why don't you go in there and rescue your, ah, _friend before he's lynched by his boss."_

"I think I'll do that." he glared at Hitoshi as he continued to grin at him.  "And no reading more into this than there really is."

"Would I?"

"Hmm."

He exited quickly before the continued knowing look could make a blush rise on his cheeks.  Dammit...  Sometimes there was a downside to hiring somebody who knew him fairly well...

Putting that to the back of his mind, he strode into the entrance foyer of the radio station.  Striding up to the reception desk, he put on a mask of indifference as he stepped in front of the receptionist who was busy, head bowed, typing things into a computer.  He cleared his throat lightly to get her attention.

"Yes, can I help you?" she said politely, not looking up, but with a slight edge to her voice that said 'please go away, can't you see I'm busy?'

"Hi," he said pleasantly.  "Could you direct me towards the managers office?"

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No.  Not with him in any case."

"Then with who?"  There was a note of exasperation to her voice now, making a small smile tug at his lips.  People rarely spoke to him like that because of who he was, so it was a refreshing change.  But any moment she was going to look up, and call him sadistic, but that widening of the eyes was so funny to watch...

"I have an appointment with DJ Chi, a.k.a. Yagami Taichi, who I believe is currently in the managers office."

"Taichi doesn't have any appointments." she frowned.  "Not just today, he never had any appointments.  So who are you, Mr...?" she paused, waiting for him to fill in the blank.  He obliged.

"Ishida."

He saw the stiffening of her body, and the way her fingers froze over the keyboard, mid-tap.  A moment later he looked up, and yes, _there was the widening of the eyes as she realised who he was._

"Y-Yamato Ishida?" she squeaked, and he nodded and smiled greeting.  "O-oh my...  Um, where was it that y-you wanted to get to?"

"The manager's office."

"Um, it's on the top floor, you just take the elevator over there..."

"Thank you." he said, and turned to go.

"Um, Mr Ishida..." the receptionist began nervously.  When he turned back, she pushed a piece of paper and an pen towards him, blushing furiously.  "Um, I don't suppose you would..."

Grinning, he snatched up the pen, quickly signed his name, and pushed it back to her.  She beamed at him, temporarily speechless with joy, and he inclined his head towards her, and continued on towards the lifts.  When he was there, and had entered one and was waiting for the doors to close and take him up to the top floor, he glanced back over towards the desk.  He just caught a glimpse of the receptionist hugging the piece of paper to her chest before the doors slid shut.

He shook his head gently from side to side, smiling to himself.  Taichi's suggestion a few minutes ago, when they'd been talking on the phone, that he should become a shrink, wouldn't have worked.  He just didn't understand the reactions of people at times.  After all, it was only a piece of paper and some ink, and yet it was treated as a valuable object.  It made no sense...

Apart from the hum of machinery at work, it was quiet as he had miraculously managed to secure an otherwise unoccupied lift.  He enjoyed the quiet for a little while longer, at which point there was a little 'bing!' to let him know he'd reached his floor, and the doors slid open and he was engulfed in noise once more.  People hurried to and fro, moving paper, talking on telephones, preparing for the items on that day's schedule...  The usual type of activities taking place in other words.

Yamato frowned as he stepped out into this commotion that largely resembled chaos.  So many people, a lot of doors, so which was the office he was looking for?  It wasn't immediately obvious, so he walked up to the nearest person who happened to have his eyes glued to a computer screen, and a frown on his face.

"Excuse me, which is the managers office?" he asked.

"That way." the man said absently, pointing the way.  "Though you better be warned, he's in a foul temper at the moment."

"Isn't he always?" he remarked dryly.

"Hah!  Yes.  You met him before then?"

"Not really, but I meet his type a lot."

"Yeah?  What profession are you in then, that puts you in the position to meet that god-awful lot?"  The man was intrigued enough to look up from his work, and yes, again there was that widening of the eyes, this time also accompanied by the dropping of the jaw.

"Guess." he smiled, and walked off in the direction he had been pointed in.  As he walked, he was aware of the little gasps, and the excited whispered conversation that broke out behind him, but he dismissed it as unimportant, concentrating instead on the door that was now in front of him.  There was a small pane of glass set in the wood,  allowing him to look in.  He could see an extremely tired looking Taichi being yelled at by another man who he could only see the back of.  The other man was presumably the station manger, and was short, rotund, and balding.

"The brunette, who had a strained expression on his face, turned slightly, saw him looking in, and smiled, his expression brightening immeasurably.  Yamato opened the door quietly, and walked into the room.  he coughed then, and tapped his friend's boss lightly on the shoulder.

The boss immediately spun round, and began to scream obscenities at him, and it was all he could do to stop himself form laughing.

"And what the hell do you think you're doing?  Have you never heard of knocking?  How dare you enter _my office without gaining my permission first?  Well, answer me then!  Do you have a voice, or is it that your vocal cords have been affected by your lack of a brain you complete and utter id-"_

Bingo!  The point of realisation had struck.  Widening of the eyes?  Check.  Dropping of the jaw?  Check.  Acting like a goldfish, doing that gawpy open-shut mouth movement?  Oh yeah...

"Hi Matt." Taichi chirped, grinning broadly.

"Hey Tai, sorry about the delay." he smiled.

"Huh?  You call _that a delay?!"  The brunette looked incredulous.  "How'd you get here so fast?"_

"I'll tell you later." he said, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible.  "You coming then?"

"Er..."  Taichi shot a nervous glance in the direction of his boss, confirming the blonde's suspicions that he'd been given a hard time about his call.  He winked.

"I'll sort that.  Hey you."  He turned to the manager who was _still pretending to be a goldfish._

"Hunnh?  What?  You t-talking to me?"

"Yeah, you.  How about you quit bugging my friend here, and let him come with me."

"What?"

"And while you're about it, why don't you give him tonight off as well?" he added after a little more thought.  "You do this for me, and I'll...forget about that little incident that just happened.  How about it?"  He knew perfectly well that the manager couldn't very well refuse his request.  After all, the amount of bad publicity he could generate about that little outburst was astronomical, and if there was one thing a manager didn't like, it was bad publicity.

Taichi's boss also knew that, and just dumbly nodded his assent.  He then turned to the brunette who was looking bewildered at the exchange.

"Uh, s-sure.  T-Taichi, you go with your...f-friend here, and I'll see you in a few days.  Take as much time off as you like..."

"That's very good of you." Yamato said smoothly as his friend was looking absolutely speechless.  Sensing that Taichi was busy searching for something to say, he held up a finger to his lips lest he say something to make his boss change his mind.  He then quickly ushered the brunette, grinning disarmingly all the time.

As he led him back towards the elevator he couldn't help but notice even more whispered conversations spring out around them.

"Kami-sama..."

"It _can't be Yamato Ishida!"_

"But it is.  I can't believe it!"

"Who's that he's got with him?"

"I don't know..."

"It's Taichi!"

"No _way!"_

"Yeah, look!  Who else do you know that has hair like that?"

"True..."

"But what's he doing with Yamato?"

"I don't know...  What's Yamato doing here?"

"I don't know..."

Although Yamato kept his outward appearance carefully blank, inside he began to worry.  Had he just inadvertently caused a problem for Taichi?  It had seemed like such a good idea to come up and rescue him when he had thought of it...

He continued to fret as he waited for the doors of the elevator to open.  He glanced at his friend who was leaning against him for support, blinking rapidly in an attempt to stay awake.  The brunette appeared to be completely unaware of what was happening around him.  Well, that at least was a good thing, that they weren't both having an anxiety attack...

The doors in front of him opened with a 'bing' at that point, distracting him from his thoughts.  He dodged past the occupants getting out, pulling Taichi after him as he seemed to have retreated into a world of his own and wasn't paying any attention.  They turned to look at him as he barged past, and hearing the sharp intake of breath, he hit the button for the ground floor repeatedly in quick succession, as if it would speed up the process.

"Hey, isn't that-" he heard one of then say before the doors slid shut with a whoosh, and the rest of the sentence was lost.  He let out a sigh of relief, and noted with surprise that once again there was no-one else present in the lift.  Now, either people were avoiding him, or...  Or it was just coincidence and he was being paranoid.  Most likely option two.

"Hey, Tai," he said, turning.

No response.

"Tai?" he repeated, waving a hand in front of the brunettes face.  Still no response.  Man, he really _had gone off into a trance!  Which meant that he was probably even more tired than he had thought him to be._

He was about to try again, when a 'bing' announced that the doors were opening.  Funny, they couldn't be on the ground floor yet, surely...  A glance up confirmed that they weren't, and a moment later three girls entered.  So, going back to his earlier thoughts, it wasn't avoidance but definitely paranoia on his part.  Oh well...

The girls crowded into the other side of the lift, talking amongst themselves.  The blonde half turned away from them, hoping that they wouldn't look at his face, but at the same time trying to make his actions inconspicuous.  No such luck.  One of them sent a half glance his was in response to the movement.  There was a pause, and then she looked back, directly at his face.  She emitted an excited squeak and went into a huddle with her friends.

"Oh my god!  Oh my god!  Oh my god!"

"What is it?"

"That guy, he's Yamato Ishida!"

"No _way!"_

"Yes way!"

"Oh my god!"

Shit!  He didn't need this at this time in the morning...

There was a bing, and Yamato looked up, hardly daring to believe his eyes.  Ground floor!  Thank god...  He grabbed the still trance-like Taichi by the shoulders, and hurried out of the opening doors, across the entrance foyer, and outside before he could meet with any further confrontation.  Hitoshi was standing next to the limousine, and opened the door for him when he saw him approach.  The blonde dived in expertly, he'd had to dive into waiting cars too many times to mention, the brunette also being carried forward by the motion.  Hitoshi shut the door behind them, and a moment later was in the driver's seat, starting the engine.

As they were pulling out into the traffic, he tried again to get his friend's attention.

"Taichi?" he asked.

Finally the brunette snapped out of whatever trance he had been in.

"How the hell did you manage to pull that off?!" was the first thing he came out with, and Yamato couldn't help but laugh.

"I've had to deal with an awful lot of people like him.  You soon learn the best was to deal with them."

"Do you now."

"Yeah."

"Maybe you could teach me sometime."

"Sure Tai, whatever you like." he said softly, looking at the brunette as he yawned sleepily.

"S'nice limo, Matt.  V'ry quiet driving..."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." he said in surprise after actually listening to the engine purr for the first time.

"Is it yours?"

"Nah.  I've just rented it for a bit."

"Ah." he mumbled sleepily, and his head dropped to rest on Yamato's shoulder, but only for a moment as he soon jerked upright, trying to stay awake.

"Tai, if you're tired, then sleep.  Don't mind me, I'm pretty beat myself in any case.

"Mmm.  Thanks."

The shock of brown hair once again came to rest against him, and as the limousine rounded a corner he slipped an arm about Taichi's shoulders to prevent him from falling.  He was surprised when the brunette snuggled in closer to him, but didn't attempt to stop him.

"Night, Tai.  Sweet dreams." he whispered, and watched as his friend drifted off the sleep.  He couldn't help but smile tenderly as he heard his breathing slow, and fall into the steady pattern of a sleeper.

"It's good to see you again..." he added softly, even though he knew that he wouldn't be heard.

Suddenly feeling that he was being watched, he looked up to see a pair of amused eyes looking at him in the rear-view mirror.

"No." he said bluntly.

"But I didn't say anything, Ishida-san."

"Don't 'Ishida-san' me, I know what you were thinking."

"Which was?"

"No, stop it, that's not going to work.  We're just _friends, that's all."_

"If you say so."

"Just get me to the hotel please?"

"As you wish."

He hid his face in Taichi's hair so that Hitoshi couldn't see the blush that was rising on his face.  Then he realised how else that action could be interpreted, and sat upright again.  When the chauffeur made no comment, he allowed himself to relax, and absent-mindedly began to play with the soft brown locks as he thought.

It really was amazingly soft hair...  He'd never realised that before.  How come?  Then again, why should he have?  It wasn't as if he had really had any occasion to touch it before.  He looked so peaceful as he slept, too.  As if he didn't have a care in the world, no troubles at all...

He frowned as he thought of something else.

"Hitoshi?" he asked, wanting a second opinion.

"Yes?"

"You don't think what I did was wrong, do you?"

"I'm not sure that I understand the question."

"Was I wrong to go and get him out of there?"

"Why shouldn't you have done that?"

"Because...  Because from everyone's reactions in there, I don't think that he'd told them that he knew me."

"Why should that be a problem?"

"I don't know.  Just...  People might start acting differently towards him because of it.  Not...acting the way they normally would.  And I know how awful it is to have pretenders all around you."

"Was his boss as bad as you thought he was?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do-"

"Then it's probably a good thing that you went in to get him.  I'm sure that he can deal with anything else that arises out of it.  He looks to be at least as strong as you, and you've coped perfectly well all these years."

"He's probably stronger than me." the blonde said quietly.

"Well then." Hitoshi said.  He glanced at his passenger who was still looking pensive.  "Look, Yamato, you're worrying too much.  I'm sure that everything will turn out to be perfectly fine.  Better than fine."

"You sure?" Yamato asked hopefully.

"Convinced of it."

"Thanks Hitoshi." he smiled.

"No problem.  Now why don't you just relax, we'll be at your hotel in half an hour or so."

"Thanks." he repeated, leaning back into the comfortable seat, and closing his eyes.  Listening to the purr of the engine, and the muted sounds of the traffic surrounding him, he felt oddly soothed by the familiar sounds.

And so, soon he too fell deep into peaceful sleep...

_To be continued..._

*points to the review button*

If you would be kind enough to let me know if you are still reading this, and whether you still feel that this is worth continuing, then I would be very much obliged.  Thank you.

xxx


	3. While you were Sleeping

27/12/02

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

*smiles* 

Thank you everyone for all your support.  *hugs*  It really means a lot to me that people do still follow this, even though updates are few and far between.  And a couple of people said that they liked Hitoshi.  ^^  Thanks.  Not sure if he'll feature much from now on…  But I hope you guys like Minoru too.

Anyone not aware of it:  I've added the fourth part to Edition 1.  I'm just sorry that it's taken me so long…

This chapter; totally new material.  *beams*  And a scene that you won't find mentioned at all in the 1st edition.  Or at least I very much doubt it will be.

Any case, there's a new piece of information in this that's very key to the plot...but that I've so far neglected to mention, and should hopefully put a completely different spin on things.  ^_^  

Well, I won't keep you any longer, I hope you enjoy the next part.

~

**Late Night Radio (Edition 2) Pt.3**

**While you were Sleeping...**

Yamato awoke, as someone was gently shaking him by the shoulder and calling his name.

"Yamato?  Yamato, we're here."

"We're where?" he mumbled, sleepily opening his eyes.  He was met with the sight of Hitoshi staring at him, concerned in a paternal way.

"At your hotel." the chauffeur told him.

"My...  Oh." he said, and nodded as snippets of information reported back to him.  Yes, that was right, the tour was finished, which meant that he had some time off to use exactly as he pleased.  What's more, he felt completely relaxed, and far happier than he would have expected to feel.  He frowned slightly.  Now why was that?  And why did his left side feel oddly warm?  He turned his head to look, and his breath caught in his throat.

"Taichi..." he whispered softly, tenderly.  The brunette made no response, still being deep in sleep, but gave a soft sigh, and snuggled closer to him.  Yamato gently smoothed a stray lock of hair away from the brunette's face, and carefully studied his features.  He absently thought how he really ought to be getting cramp down his left side because of Taichi leaning against him...only he wasn't.  All he felt was comfortable, and warm, and safe, although really those weren't physical sensations but emotional ones...

Hitoshi coughed gently to try and regain the blonde's attention, as the blue eyes had taken on a slightly vacant look that meant that his mind was drifting.  The singer's gaze drifted back to him.

"Hmm?" he said, his mind obviously still elsewhere.

"Your hotel, you want to go inside?" the chauffeur prompted.

"Yes." Yamato said, shaking his head from side to side in an attempt to wake himself up.  "Yes, that might be a good idea."

"You feeling okay?"

"Yeah..." he replied, stifling a yawn.  "I'm just feeling kinda tired."

"Well, I'm not surprised." Hitoshi tsked.  "After all you did stay up half, correction, _all the night!"_

"Aw, shut up..." he grinned affectionately.  "You're worse than my Dad!"

"Well, I expect you don't tell your father the half of what you get to."

"Hitoshi, I'm twenty-three.  As far as he's concerned I can do what I like now.  I'm not a kid anymore, I'll have you know."

"Be that as it may, you still need your sleep."

"I have to agree with you fully on that one..." he said as he yawned again.  "I haven't felt this tired in ages..."

"Then we'd better get you into this hotel without any further delay, hadn't we?" Hitoshi answered with a grin, and opened the door to get out.

Once he had left, Yamato turned back to Taichi.  Carefully, he shifted the brunette so that he was no longer leaning so completely against him.  Gently, so as not to wake his friend, he shifted towards the open door, all the time supporting Tai to make sure that he would not fall.  Having now managed to manoeuvre himself out of the limousine, he let the brunette lie full length across the seat whilst he took a step back to decide what he was going to do next.

How exactly was he going to get Taichi into the hotel?  Well, the obvious thing to do would be to wake him, but he felt oddly reluctant to do that.  He looked so peaceful, and he'd been so tired before that it just didn't seem fair...  The blonde smiled to himself.  Now that that option had been ruled out, there was really only one other viable way that he could think of.

Leaning back into the limousine, he gently gathered the brunette up into his arms.  He carefully lifted him out so as not to bump him as he moved him through the narrow doorway.  Now that had worked rather well...  His gaze fell on the trunk.  Ah.  Maybe there was a problem after all...

Hitoshi, who had been standing patiently holding the door open whilst all this had been going on, noticed the look on his face.  He followed the blonde's gaze, and guessed what it was that was going though his mind.

"I'll sort out the luggage Ishida-san.  Don't you worry about that.  Just get yourself inside." he said, shooing him towards the doors.  Yamato smiled his thanks, and complied.

It was a good job that this was an expensive hotel, Yamato thought, as a smiling doorman opened the doors to let him pass through into the building within.  Otherwise there wouldn't be a doorman, and he'd have gotten into difficulties trying to get into the damn building as well...  How they could be so cheerful at this time in the morning, however, was incomprehensible.  Seriously, did they go through some special training, or did they have plastic surgery so that they couldn't do anything _but smile?  Or were they just naturally like that?  God knows he wouldn't have been able to smile all the time, and at all hours too..._

He had reached the reception desk by that point, and so discontinued that thoroughly random train of thought.  He had been quiet enough in his approach that the receptionist hadn't yet looked up.  He would have pressed the bell to get her attention, only both arms being full of a sleeping Taichi made it rather impossible to do so.  He settled on just actually speaking to her as the best way to go.

"Hi, I have a reservation for a room here."

"Okay Mr-" she looked up, and when she did so, she smiled, obviously recognising him.  But this wasn't the huge grin that he so often saw when fans noticed him out and about, and ran up to him.  No, this was a much more gentle smile, one that was used to greet a friend.  As soon as she had looked up, Yamato had recognised her instantly, and had smiled back.

"Minoru!" he exclaimed in surprise.  "I didn't know you were working today."

"Oh, I'm touched.  You make it sound as if you'd rather I wasn't here."

"I didn't mean-"

"I know you didn't, Yamato, I was just teasing you."  She turned to the computer on her desk, and began looking through the database.  "The penthouse suite, isn't it?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"You know, maybe we should rename it the 'Yamato Ishida Suite'." she said with a grin.  "You seem to be in it often enough."

"Oh, very funny." he said, giving her a withering look that only succeeded in making her laugh.  "I think not.  You really want to be swamped with a hoard of fans trying to book that room simply because I've stayed in it?"

"You're so modest!"

"It's true!" he protested.  "They would.  I know they would.  They're practically camped out in the corridors outside my room in other hotels when they've managed to find out which one I'm in.  I've had to escape down the fire escape before..."

"I know, I was just teasing you again.  You never seem to quite notice when I am though."

"Maybe that's because you do it all the time."

"Then surely you should have picked up on when I'm not being serious by now..."

"No, because when I said you do it all the time, I meant _all the time!  As in everything you say to me seems to be to tease me in some way, and that I assume that you have to be being serious at least some of the time...  Trouble is, it's pure guesswork as to which bit is which, because they all sound the same!"_

"Ouch, it bites!"

"Oh, very funny..."

"Ah-ha!" she laughed.  "You got that I was teasing you that time!"

"As I said before," he said, with a mischievous grin playing on his features, "Pure guesswork."

"Oh, you're impossible." she scolded.  "Anyway, I had better get your keys, and get a porter to take you up there as you seem to have your hands full."

"What?" he said in surprise, and looked down.  He blinked.  How the hell could he have forgotten that he was carrying Taichi?!  It's not exactly easy to forget that you were carrying someone, for God's sake...  It was just...  It felt all too natural holding the brunette close to him, to such a degree that he was only subconsciously aware of him being there, because it felt as though he were meant to be close to him.  As if the brunette was an integral part of him...  But no, that was just the tiredness talking, and playing about with his thoughts...  Right?

"Yeah, I guess..." he murmured quietly.

Minoru looked at him curiously at the change in his voice.  Then, quite unexpectedly, to Yamato at least, she stood up and leaned over the counter so that she could take a closer look at the sleeping brunette.

"Hmm, he's a real cutie, that's for sure..." she said after a moment of reflection, sitting back down.  Then she sighed.  "You lucky thing."

"What?" he exclaimed, taken aback.

"I wish I had as many cute guys flock to me as you have flock to you."

"No." he shook his head vigorously.  "Minoru, I think you're reading more into this than there really is."

"Am I?"

"Yes." he insisted.  "Taichi is just an old school-friend of mine.  That is all.  Why doesn't anyone seem to believe me when I tell them that?"

"Well, you have to admit that it _does look a little suspicious..."_

"Why?" he asked, exasperated.

"Because you're holding him in your arms?"

"Carrying him.  There's a significant difference.  And before you ask why I'm carrying him, it's because he works nights, and he was tired enough to just fall asleep.  He looked so peaceful I just didn't have the heart to wake him...  So I thought that the best solution for all would to just simply carry him."

"That's another thing that looks suspicious.  I mean, taking him up to your hotel room?  There could be talk..."

"You're not going to start spreading rumours are you?"

"Do you really think so little of me?" she asked, looking genuinely hurt.

"Of course not..." he soothed, then smirked.  "Can't _you tell when __I'm just teasing?"_

"Oh you..." she glared at him.  "Though I suppose I deserved that one.  But you still never answered my question as to why you're taking him up to your room."

"I guess it's because I don't want to risk losing touch with him again, y'know?" he said quietly, gazing at Taichi's face as he slept.  "When we lost touch, I really missed him.  If I drop him off somewhere else, then things might come up, and we might not be able to meet and catch up.  And then we might lose touch for good, and never run into each other again...  But if I let him sleep here, then we'll be together..."

He trailed off into silence, and Minoru, watching him carefully, noticed the slight dulling of his usually brilliant blue eyes, and the sadness that suffused his features.

"It sounds like you really missed him a lot..."

"Yeah...  And you know the worst thing?"

"What?"

"I don't even know _why we lost touch.  I mean, we were best friends and everything, we didn't have a major falling out...  Actually we'd promised each other that we'd never lose touch."  He sighed deeply.  "I don't know what happened.  One day he just upped and left without a single word.  This is the first time I've seen him since then..."_

"How long ago was that?" the receptionist asked quietly, moved and saddened by the emotion showing so clearly in his voice.

"Five long years..."

He was surprised when Minoru reached out and placed one of her hands cool against his cheek.  Looking into her eyes questioningly, he saw compassion there, and was suddenly aware of how tired he felt.

"Come on, you'd better get on up to your room, you look beat." she smiled warmly.  She turned to the other receptionist at the desk.  "Kai, hold the fort whilst I take Ishida-san up to his suite."

Kai glanced briefly at Yamato with star-struck awe, before speechlessly nodding his agreement.

"Thanks." she smiled, grabbing the correct keys from the rack and walking out from behind the counter, her heels clicking on the polished floor.  She signalled one of the porters to carry Yamato's bags before leading the singer towards the elevators.

"Poor boy." she said quietly as they moved away from the counter, inclining her head slightly towards Kai, who was still looking stunned.  "He's new here, and I don't think that he was quite aware that people like you stay here fairly often."

"What do you mean 'people like me'?"

"Nothing _bad...  Just...more than slightly famous." she grinned.  "You're the first star we've had here since he began...and just about our most famous patron at that."_

"I'm flattered." he grinned, blushing a little.

"Good, because if you weren't then you'd be getting a big head."

"Listen, Minoru, you don't have to do this..."

"Do what?"

"Go out of your way to help me.  I mean, this isn't exactly in your job-description-"

"Don't be silly!  I'm more than happy to help stop you walking into doors.  And besides which I could use the chance to stretch my legs, there isn't exactly much room behind that counter.  Oops, budge up a bit will you?" she said o Yamato, as they shifted aside to make room in the elevator for the porter.

"Er, hey!" the blonde said suddenly as the doors began to close.  "What about Hitoshi, I forgot to say thanks..."

"He waved to me after he'd given the bags to the porter, and then I think he left."

"Oh." he said, looking troubled.

"Yamato, I'm sure he won't think that you were being rude, if that's what you're worried about.  In fact, I _know he won't."_

"You sure?"

"Absolutely, so stop looking like that!  He knew that you were tired, and had other things on your mind...  So he's not going to blame you if it momentarily slipped your mind."

"How do you know that?" he asked incredulously.  "You didn't speak to him!"

"Anyone who knows you, and has talked with you a couple of times can tell that simply by looking at you." she said seriously.  "Anyway..." she continued as the lift chimed, and they all stepped out onto the top floor.  The singer didn't mind her taking charge of the conversation, as he was feeling too tired to say much as it was, and her voice had a soothing quality to it.  She unlocked and opened the door to the penthouse suite, and held it wide whilst Yamato manoeuvred himself and the still slumbering Taichi into the room beyond.  "To go back to what I was saying before...  You could do a lot worse than having _me help you.  I, at least, don't spread false rumours, unlike some people..."_

She shot a stern glance in the direction of the porter, who was carefully placing Yamato's bags just inside the doorway.  The man flushed a deep red at her comment, mumbled something unintelligible, and hastily backed out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Minoru, do you terrify _all the staff like that?"_

"The point needed to be made." she said, still glaring after the porter, and clicked her tongue disapprovingly.  "I don't know why women are made out to be the worst when it comes to spreading gossip...  That porter is one of the worst for spreading rumours out of all the people that I know!  Really I would have rathered that one of the others had taken up your bags, but it wouldn't have done to make a scene, and besides which he'd already seen you.

"Any case, he knows I'm going to be keeping an eye on him now, so it should be fine.  He won't be spreading any rumours if he knows what's good for him..."  The blonde didn't know quite how to feel about the glint in her eyes; whether to be relieved that his privacy wasn't going to be invaded, or whether to worry for the safety of others.  "Oh, but listen to me rambling on...  You're meant to be getting some rest!"

She opened the door leading to the bedroom, and smiled.  It wasn't a smile with an edge to it that said 'bedroom, and you know what happens _there', but a gentle, warm smile between friends._

"You really do spoil me y'know..."

"Well, somebody has to take care of you Yamato..."

She smiled again, and exited before he had the time to find his voice to respond.

"I wonder what she meant by that..." he said quietly to himself, and yawned.  He walked the few steps to the king-size bed that dominated the bedroom, and carefully laid Taichi on it.  After some moments of deliberation, he removed his friend's shoes, but left him otherwise fully dressed, and tucked the blanket around the brunette.

Yamato yawned again as he slowly walked back to the lounge area, massaging the back of his neck with one hand.  He paused in the doorway, and looked back.

"Sleep well, Taichi..." he whispered, pulling the door shut behind him.  "And don't think that I'll be letting you vanish without an explanation this time, because you haven't got a chance if you do..."

Wearily, he flopped down onto the sofa, and shut his eyes.  He didn't bother getting changed.  He didn't even bother taking off his shoes.  What he did do was promise himself that he was going to get to the bottom of the matter about Taichi, come hell or high water...  

And that was all that he had time to do before sleep claimed him mere moments later.

_To Be Continued..._

~

So, did you see that coming?  (And if you did, I would love to know where you got your information from! ^^)

Meh, am trying to write the forth part of this, which is not going at all well.  *sighs*  So if I were you, I wouldn't expect to see it for a while.  So until then, if you'd like to tell me what you thought of the new revelation, or the fic in general so far, then I'd be obliged.  ^_^  It might just help to shift my WB which is still persisting...


	4. Questions, No Answers

8th February 2003 

Hey all!  ^_^

Just a quick A/N to say that this chapter is kinda angsty...  -_-  Weeell, it couldn't be fluff all the way through, now could it?  _I couldn't do total fluff any case.  ^^;;  So...sorry if that is what you want.  Wasn't too sure about this chapter whilst I was writing it, but during the type-up I reckoned that it hadn't actually turned out all that badly...but you make up your own mind._

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Hope you enjoy the latest instalment to the story...

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**Late Night Radio (Edition 2) Pt. 4**

**Questions...no Answers...**

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~Jheya Ono~

Yamato sighed, and splashed water on his face.  Looking at his reflection in the mirror in the en suite bathroom, he saw troubled blue eyes staring back at him.

He sighed again, and grabbed a towel to dry his face with.  It was now just after eight in the evening, and he had spent the majority of the two and half hours he had been awake for feeling confused.

It had been about five-thirty in the afternoon when he had woken, a little stiff and uncomfortable because of the awkward position he had been sleeping in.  Only really half-conscious, he had dragged his bags from where they had been left by the door into the bedroom...  Then he had remembered about Taichi, and had had a momentary panic that he had been being too noisy, and had woken him, before seeing that the brunette was still sleeping.  The blonde had been careful to be rather more quiet at unpacking his things into the drawers and wardrobes, and after about ten minutes of that he had finished, and his friend was still asleep.

Stretching and yawning, he had felt uncomfortable, as he had still been dressed in the same clothes as he had been wearing the previous day, and so had decided to take a shower.  He'd stowed his wristwatch in a drawer, and had shed the rest of his clothes in the bathroom before stepping beneath the jet of hot water.

Everything had been fine up until that point.  In fact it continued to be fine and make sense for a while longer.  The point where everything had begun to get confusing was when he had emerged from the bathroom, drying his freshly shampooed hair, to find that the brunette was finally awake.

He had quickly gotten over the slight jolt of shock once he had noticed the state that Taichi's hair had been in.  His sense of the ridiculous had cut in, and he had been in hysterics not long after.  Then had followed a spate of name calling and insulting each other that was rather reminiscent of old times, and then...  Then he had ended up hugging the brunette, with tears coming to his eyes, and then Taichi had touched his face in a way that had felt so right...  And then the moment had broken, and the brunette had gone to take a shower and sort his hair out, and he had gone to order then something to eat.

He had then spent a confused half-hour trying to make sense of what had happened, and failing miserably, and order room service at the same time.  He was also burdened with the added distraction that Minoru's shift had ended, so he got some idiot simpering girl on the other end of the line that made ordering hell, and only served to get him annoyed, which made sorting out his thoughts even harder to do.

After finally managing to place his order, he'd ended up flicking TV channels in despair, and then Taichi had emerged from the shower, and then shortly after their food had arrived...  It had arrived in record time, a feat that had amazed him, considering the amount that he had ordered, and the entire kitchen must have been entirely devoted to his order in order to get it to him so fast...but he hadn't dwelt on that point, for he had other things on his mind.  After that they had talked as they ate, and the conversation had flowed without pause, and they had spent yet more time teasing each other...  Almost as if...  As if they'd never been apart at all...

And now he was meant to be picking out an outfit for Taichi to wear, and getting ready himself so that they could go see a movie...  But instead he was lying on the huge king-size bed, with one arm covering his eyes, _still_ trying to make sense of the turmoil that filled his mind.  Why was he doing this?  Why was he tormenting himself so?  He didn't have to sort everything out now, after all...  He could just go with the flow of things for now, and gradually piece together the puzzle as to why Taichi had purposely vanished five years ago...

But he didn't want to piece it together eventually.  So what if it seemed impatient of him, but he wanted the answer _now.  He wanted to know if...  If it was all his fault...  God, why did he always have to make such a mess of things?_

There was a tentative knock at the closed door.

"Matt?" Taichi called, sounding a little worried.

Oh crap...  How long had he been just doing nothing for?  There he went again, making a complete mess of things as usual...

"Yeah?" he replied, not moving from the position he was lying in, and unable to stop the faint wobble that entered his voice.

"Are you okay?"

The door handle began to turn, and Yamato spoke quickly before the brunette could open the door and enter the room.

"No, don't come in..."

"Why not?" came the petulant reply, but at least the door didn't open.

"Well, you can come in if you _really_ want to see my ass..." he replied, managing to sound like his normal self.  There was a pause.

"Oh...  You're not changed yet?"

"No."

"Exactly how long does it take for you to get dressed?"

"Oh hah ha.  Very funny." he said sarcastically.

"No _seriously-"_

"Taichi..." he warned.

"Okay, okay..."  Even though the door was closed, and his eyes were covered, Yamato could almost see Taichi holding up his hands to ward off expected blows.  The mental image made him smile even as it brought a lump to his throat.  "Why don't you just pick out the clothes and pass them to me now?  Y'know, that way we can both change at the same time, and cut down on time..."

"Yeah.  Good idea.  Just give me a minute will you..." he slowly got to his feet and moved to the wardrobes to pick out appropriate clothing for the brunette.  Blue; because Taichi had said that it was his favourite colour, and because Yamato thought that it would suit his friend's complexion, and brought out his eye colour...

He took a deep breath to compose himself once he had chosen the garments, and put on a cheerful grin before he opened the door.  No need to worry Taichi...  Just act cheerful...

The brunette _did look a little worried, but his face quickly broke into a grin when he saw Yamato smiling at him._

"Thanks." he said as he accepted the bundle of clothing.

S'okay." Yamato shrugged, then noticed that his friend was looking at him closely, with his head tilted to one side.  "What?"

"You haven't even _started_ to get changed!  What have you been doing for a quarter of an hour or so?  Just staring into space or something?"

"Yeah, well..." he muttered, rubbing at the back of his neck and trying not to look embarrassed.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Just generally thinking."

"About what?" Taichi persisted.

"Nothing much." he murmured, turning his head away so that the brunette couldn't see his expression too clearly.  "I mean, think about it...  When we were still at school together, I used to just pace out thinking all the time.  So you shouldn't find it totally unexpected if I still do it now..."

"But whenever you spaced out, it was always because you were thinking about something important to you..."  Damn him, trust him to remember that...

"Not always." he lied, trying to find a way to get out of this conversation, as he really didn't like where it was heading.

"Yes, always."

He didn't say anything in reply to that.  He _couldn't say anything in reply to that.  Not if he wanted to keep his voice level, for the concern showing in Taichi's voice made something break deep down inside.  He didn't dare look at the brunette's face because he knew that the concern would be mirrored in his features, and clearly showing in those deep brown eyes, and that would be just too much..._

"Matt?  So what were you thinking about?"

He still didn't have enough control of himself to answer.

"I mean, you always used to tell me..."

"Well, obviously things changed, Taichi, because _you_ used to tell _me_ everything, but you still just left..." he muttered under his breath, and was mildly shocked at the bitterness held in his own voice.

"Uh, I didn't mange to quite catch that...  What did you say?"

"It wasn't anything."

"Well, your lips moved, so obviously it _was_-"

"Can we just drop this Tai?" he interrupted.  "It wasn't important."  Yes it was, he at least admitted to himself.  But you missed it the first time, and I'm not strong enough to say it a second...

"Uh, sure, I guess..." he sounded taken aback and confused, and he actually took a step back from the blonde.  Yamato immediately regretted that he hadn't phrased it more carefully, and turned to face him to apologise.

Bad move.  He visibly flinched when he saw how concerned Taichi looked, and that only made the concern deepen.

"Hey..." he said softly, moving towards him again.  "You okay, man?"

"Sure I am."  Another lie, but he was in no state to tell the truth.

"Really."  He sounded thoroughly unconvinced, but then hadn't he always been able to tell when he said an outright lie?

"Really."

"Really?" the sadness in his tone made the blonde flinch again.  Damn, damn, _damn_!  He had thought that he'd learned to conceal his emotions better than that.

"Matt-" the brunette tried again, and Yamato caught his wrist before his hand could touch his face.

"Listen.  I'd better go get changed." the blonde said, not meeting his friend's questioning gaze.  "Yeah?  Because we're never gonna get to the cinema at this rate..."

"I-I guess..." he sounded thoroughly unconvinced again, but at least he wasn't trying to get him to talk this time.

"Okay, good.  See you when we're both dressed then..."

He released his hold on Taichi's wrist, and quickly vanished back into the bedroom before the brunette had the chance to say anything more.  Shutting the door behind him, he lent back against the polished wood with a sigh.  A highly suspicious exit, yes, but a lot less suspicious than his becoming a crying emotional wreck...  he let himself slide down the smooth surface until he was sitting on the floor.

Wrapping his arms around his legs, he groaned, and let his head drop so that his forehead rested against his raised knees.  He just sat there for a while, listening to the silence, and was surprised when footsteps eventually moved away on the other side of the door.  Taichi had still been standing there?...

He slowly got to his feet, and padded quietly over to one of the wardrobes.  Better start changing...  He'd already managed to get the brunette worried, and if he _still_ hadn't gotten changed by the time that Taichi had, then he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop his friend from asking  questions until he got answers.  And they were answers that he wasn't prepared to give...

Yamato shook his head to try and forcibly dispel such thoughts from his mind.  He released the towel from round his waist and let it slip to the floor, opening drawers to get out clean boxers, which he pulled on slowly.  Next he pulled on a pale blue top, the cotton cool against his skin, and tried to reason with himself.

He wanted answers to all the questions that had plagued him for years.  That was only natural.  It was only natural to want Taichi to explain everything to him now that he had finally managed to find the brunette again...  But it _wasn't  reasonable to expect the answers to five years worth of questions, all in one go.  So therefore he shouldn't be in such a state over not getting them._

Yamato focused on his breathing, and took a deep lungful of air.  He expelled it slowly, and started one of the breathing exercises that he had been taught by a voice coach.  It was designed to help strengthen his lungs so that they could endure the pressures of tour performances, but had the added bonus of acting as a relaxant.  Concentrating so deeply on one thing mean that all other thoughts, all worries, were temporarily pushed to one side, leaving his mind clearer, and solutions easier to find.

Grey slacks and a fleecy high-collared jacket found their way successfully onto his body, even though his mind was paying very little attention to what he was putting on.  Socks and black shoes followed, and then he lay back on the bed, and he allowed his eyes to close so that not even his surroundings could intrude into his thoughts.  The blonde had no idea how long he lay there, aware only of the breath entering and leaving his body, and when his eyes eventually opened again, he felt calmer.

Sitting up, the rustle of the sheets beneath him, and of his clothing, sounded unnaturally loud in the still air.  He rubbed his eyes with one hand, and brushed away a stray lock of hair that flicked down into his face.  Yamato looked towards the closed door hesitantly.  Taichi was on the other side of that door...  Could he face him yet?  He prodded his thoughts gingerly, careful lest he stir up something that would undo all his hard work.

All the worry, all the insecurity, it was all still there, it wasn't something that could just be gotten rid of, but it was buried at a lower level of consciousness.  He could still feel it, he still knew that those feelings were there, but not to such a degree that it bothered him.  He couldn't ignore it forever, else it would eat away at him from the inside, but he could safely ignore it for the moment at least.

He felt calm enough, good enough to let a small smile curve his lips, and mentally thanked all those who had coached him so well in self-control.  Rising to his feet, his steps didn't falter once as he quietly walked over to the door, the sound of his footsteps absorbed by the thick carpet.  Pausing, he carefully schooled his features into a smiling mask, making sure that the smile reached his eyes, knowing that all this effort would be a waste if it did not.  He knew, without needing a mirror, when he had achieved this, as he had needed to hide his true emotions many times before...

Right.  He was smiling.  He was feeling as calm as he could manage...  Nothing more to do, nothing more he _could do.  He couldn't stay hiding behind this door forever, time to enter the breech..._

Taking a deep breath, he raised a hand and knocked softly against the smooth wood.  No response, but he wasn't going to just open the door in case Taichi was still changing on the other side.  He knocked again.

"Taichi?" he asked, his heart beating faster than it ought to have been doing.

"Yeah?"

"You changed yet?"

"Yeah."

One final deep breath.  One final check that his smile was still in place.  One final prayer that he was strong enough to cope with anything he might have to face.  No turning back now...

He opened the door.

_To be continued..._

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So...what did you think?  Please review and let me know!  ^_^  Reviewing also lets me know that people are still interested in this, and gives me a reason to write it, ne?

And in case you didn't read the A/N at the beginning (some people don't, ne?), if you'd like to be informed about updates, then go here:

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Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me so far, I really appreciate your support.  The 5th part of Edition 1 should be making an appearance some time soon.  It _has been written, so I just need to find the time to type it up, but time is something I don't have all that much of at the moment...  -_-_

Jheya xxx  ^_~


	5. Snowballs and Cinemas

19th March 2003

Hao!  ^_^  Next instalment is now complete.  Whoop!  Some angst, some humour, and occasions to yell at the characters to notice the obvious and get things moving!  *laughs*  As if things are gonna be that simple...  ^_~  I reckon I still have some more elements to chuck into the plot to mess things up nicely...

If you'd like to know when I update (seeing as the LNR's are just about the _only fics I'm working on at the moment, and very slowly at that...  _  Gomen.) then please just send an e-mail to:_

**j_ono-subscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk**

Hope it's good enough...  On with the story!

(Oh, and if FF.net has mucked up my centre alignment for titles and stuff again…I really can't be bothered to sort it out this time, gomen.  But as it doesn't affect the story content at all, it doesn't really matter.)

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**Late Night Radio (Edition 2) Pt.5**

**Snowballs and Cinema's**

~Jheya Ono~

Yamato smiled as Taichi crunched through the snow, a wide grin of delight lighting up his face.  The brunette's happiness at finding out how much of the white stuff had fallen whilst he was sleeping was infectious, and the blonde's spirit had lifted a little.  There was still a weight in his heart with all the things he wanted to know, but it was bearable for the moment at least.

He breathed deeply, the cold night air chilling his lungs, but making his senses feel alive.  Looking up into the dark sky, he saw the stars twinkle, even though they seemed faint because of the bright streetlamps that shone down on them as they walked.  The stars may have been masked somewhat, but the snow glittered underfoot.  Vast stretches of it were still unmarred by footprints, and as soft flakes still drifted down lazily from the heavens, the footprints that trailed down the paths had already been softened, and were fading.

Evidence that children had been playing earlier in the day was visible in the snowmen that were dotted here and there, and the snow barricades built for hiding behind whilst conducting a snowball fight.  But such activity was missing now, parents having called the children in as the hour grew late, and he and Taichi were the only pedestrians in sight, and even the sounds of the traffic were muted for they were passing through one of the parkland areas.  The two were walking in silence but for the crunch of the crisp snow, but as Yamato looked over at the brunette, Taichi grinned at him.

"Cool, huh!"

"What is?"

"All this!" he whooped, spreading his arms wide, and spinning three-sixty as he tilted his face up to the sky and the snowflakes drifting earthwards.  The blonde laughed easily at his friend's antics, his happy facade holding up amazingly well.  The brunette didn't seem to be aware that beneath the surface the singer was no way near as calm as he seemed.  He didn't know how close Yamato had been to losing control of  his emotions.  He hadn't guessed when they had been travelling down in the lift together, nor whilst he had been talking to Minoru, who had just started another shift.  The receptionist hadn't been able to pick out his true feeling either, and she was usually pretty good at that.

So it was all good.  Nobody knew apart from him, which meant that he still had a reasonable amount of self-control left.  In fact, he had buried his feelings so far that he could almost fool himself that all was well, that he felt fine.

Almost.

"Yama?"

Taichi's voice, tinged with a note of concern, filtered its way into his mind, and he turned to face the brunette.

"Yeah Tai?"

"Don't you think that this is just _so_ cool?"

"Mm, yeah.  Very cool." he smiled.

"Cold too."  His voice was filled with suppressed laughter.

"Hah?" the blonde said, nonplussed.  "What are you talking about?  Of course it's cold, what do you expect in the sno-"  He turned to look for his friend who had vanished from his side...and got a face full of snow for his efforts.  He spluttered, and shook his head from side to side to dislodge the remains of the snowball in a shower of fine particles.  He glared coldly at Taichi who stood a few steps behind him, laughing so hard that tears had come to his eyes.  "What the hell was that for?!"

"You really thought I'd be able to resist something like that with all this snow around?!" the brunette replied, still laughing...and got hit by a snowball in the face.  He brushed it away with one hand and blinked in surprise.  "Hey!"

Now it was Yamato's turn to laugh.

"Hah!  Serves you right!"

"Why you..." Taichi growled, and bent down to retrieve a handful of snow.  The blonde didn't wait to get his, but took to his heels and ran, still laughing, all trouble temporarily forgotten as he strove to become harder to hit as a moving target.

"Hey!" the brunette protested, finishing compacting his snowball as he ran after his friend.  "Come back here!"

"No chance!"  He stooped and scooped up some snow as he ran, then suddenly changed direction, and Taichi's thrown snowball missed him by inches.

"No fair!" he exclaimed, and grabbed another handful of snow.

"Perfectly fair!" Yamato retorted with a wink, and stopped momentarily to lob his snowball at his friend, taking off again as soon as he had released it.  He laughed, and retrieved more ammo as a muffled curse let him know that he had hit his target.  "It's not my fault if you're bad at aiming!"

"I'm not bad at aiming!" Taichi yelled, and as if to prove his point, a snowball thudded into the back of the blonde's coat.

The two were drawing close to another set of barricades that had been abandoned as night had drawn in.  Both having the same thought at the same time, they left the path and ran over to them, their breath leaving white clouds hanging in the cold air behind them.  The brunette skidded to a halt behind his first, and Yamato, being the only one with a snowball to hand, took his chance before his friend could duck down behind the barricade.  It smacked into Taichi's chest and shattered, sending a fine spray into his face, and making him splutter.

Laughing, the blonde quickly reached his shelter and ducked down behind it before the brunette had the chance to recover.  He mentally cheered when he saw that whoever had been using this particular battleground last had left behind a small pile of ammunition.  He grabbed one in each hand, stuck his head over the top of the barricade and threw one after the other at the brunette.  The first struck true, but the second missed as Taichi had the good sense to throw himself flat before it could reach him.

Yamato ducked back down in case the previous combatants had unwittingly left the brunette a supply to throw, as they had with him.  They had.  Seconds later two snowballs whizzed overhead, and thudded into the ground somewhere behind him.  He grabbed another off the pile beside him, stuck his head up for a moment, saw a shock of brown, dropped back down, then rose up again and threw it.  He was rewarded with a yelp, and chuckled as he threw himself flat.  He was just in time.  Another snowball whirled over him, but another struck the top of the barricade and sent a cold shower of particles down on him, some finding their way down the back of his neck and making him shiver.

He cautiously rose so that he was crouching, careful not to rise so far that the top of his showed above the top.  Gathering more snow together to top up his depleted pile of ammo, his bare fingers began to go numb with the icy coldness.  Suddenly, the blonde paused in his task, listening intently.  Had he heard the crunch of footsteps, or had it just been the sound of him compacting the snow together?

Peering over the top of the barricade, ready to duck down at any moment, he swept his gaze from side to side.  Seeing no movement, he was about to return to making snowballs when his blue eyes widened as Taichi rose from where he had been hiding on the other side of the wall of snow.  The brunette let out a yell of triumph, launching himself over the top, and Yamato gave a startled cry and fell so that he was lying on his back.

A shower of snow cascaded down on him as Taichi didn't quite clear the barricade, and the blonde held up his hands to shield his eyes.  The brunette's eyes widened as one of his feet struck the top edge, meaning that he wasn't going over at quite the angle he'd expected to.  He let out another yell, this time one of surprise, as he toppled over and landed sprawled full-length on top of Yamato.

There was a moment of stillness as the snow settled around them, Yamato too winded to attempt to move, and Taichi too stunned at this sudden turn of events.  Then the blonde groaned, and the brunette quickly used his arms to lift his upper body up off of him.

"Yama?  You okay?" he asked, concern evident both in his voice and on his face.

"Yeah...  I think so..." the singer gasped, brushing snow away from his face.  His cheeks were flushed, and he smiled weakly to try and dispel some of the worry that showed so clearly in the chocolate eyes gazing down on him.  Their breath hung white in the air between them as a moment of silence passed.

"Er, Taichi?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, you gonna get off me yet?"

"Oh, er, sorry..." the brunette's cheeks reddened in a way that had nothing to do with the cold.  It took him about one second flat to go from practically horizontal, to totally vertical, so acute was his embarrassment.  Yamato propped himself up on his elbows, and shook his head vigorously, spraying snow everywhere.

Taichi held his hand out to his friend, and helped the blonde to his feet.

"Damn, you hands are cold!" the brunette exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, tell me about it..." he smiled, and held both hands in front of his mouth, blowing on them in an attempt to warm them.  He looked at Taichi questioningly when he heard him giggle a moment later.  "What?"

"Just thinking...  I shouldn't really be surprised that your hands are cold...seeing as you currently look like a snowman!"

"Wha?" he blinked and looked down at himself, and at where snow clung to his coat and trousers.  "I guess I do..." he laughed, and began to brush away the thin white layer.  Then, looking up slyly with a grin, he added, "And you do too!"

"I do?"  It was the brunette's turn to look surprised, only then realising that he too was covered in snow.  Then he laughed, and joined Yamato in the task of trying to rid himself of such a burden.

"Tai?"

"Yup?"

"Can you just check that I've gotten all the snow off my back?" the blonde asked, turning round so that Taichi could see.

"Sure!"  The brunette moved closer to his friend,  "You still have just a little left on you...  Let me get it for you..."

"Thanks..." he said, and then felt himself blush as one of the sweeps glided over his ass...

"Hey...  Matt?"  Taichi asked a moment later.

"Yeah?"  Yamato wondered if his friend could hear how loud and how fast his heart was beating.  Surely he wasn't so unfit that a little exertion would make his heart race so much...  In fact he _knew that he was physically fit, as he went to the gym regularly.  So surely his heart shouldn't have been beating as fast as it was...  Maybe it was because the exercise was coupled with the cold that caused it to do so.  Then again, maybe it wasn't..._

"You feeling okay?"

"Um...  I, uh, I think so...  Why do you ask?" he stuttered, his heart still going thumpity-thump in his chest.

"Oh, okay...  It's just that your face has gone all red."

"Oh...  Probably just because of the cold..."

"Well, if that's the case then we'd better get on to the cinema before you freeze!" the brunette laughed, running forward a couple of steps.  Then he paused and looked back at the blonde with a puzzled frown.

"What now?" Yamato grinned, placing his hands on his hips.

"Weren't you wearing a hat before?"

"Uh, yeah..."  He raised his hands to his head and felt nothing but slightly damp locks.  Looking around he spotted it half buried in the snow a little way away, and went to retrieve it, shaking the baseball cap free of the clinging white particles before replacing it on his head.  He hadn't noticed when it had fallen off...  In fact he had completely forgotten that he had even put it on in the first place.  Noticing that Taichi was _still _looking puzzled, he shot a puzzled look of his own his friend's way.  "Whatcha thinking 'bout?"

"Nothing much." he shrugged.  "Shall we walk yet?"

The blonde fell into step beside the brunette, and they walked on a little way before he felt the urge to ask the question again.

"What _were you thinking about, Tai?"_

"Huh?  Oh.  I was just wondering why you decided to wear a baseball cap..."

"Why wouldn't I?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Well...  It's not exactly cold weather headwear, so it can't be because of that...  And I guess that you just don't really look like a hat person to me."

"I'm not." he admitted.  "I don't usually like wearing them."

"Then why are you?  It hides your face..."

"Precisely."

"But Matt..." Taichi protested.  "Why would you want to hide your face?  I mean...you have a damned pretty face!" he exclaimed, and Yamato blushed again, and wondered why.  It wasn't as if he wasn't used to such compliments, and he always appreciated them...but he had thought that he had gotten past the stage when he was embarrassed by them...  So why was he blushing now?  "So why would you want to cover it up?" the brunette continued.  "You're not gonna tell me that you have a problem with the way you look, are you?  Because you're mad if you do..."

"Nah, Tai, I'm fine with the way I look!" he reassured his friend.  "Not to be big-headed or anything, you do understand...?" he added hurriedly, wondering if his comment had sounded arrogant.  He hadn't meant it to.

"You're not being big-headed saying you're fine with the way you look."  Taichi spoke seriously, with no trace of joviality showing in his face, voice, or even the way he moved.  The blonde looked at his face, into those deep brown eyes, and was reassured by the sincerity held in them.  "But if you're fine with your looks, then why hide your face?"

"Because it's a very recognisable face." he sighed.  "And this is a time when I don't _want_ to be recognised..."

"Why?"  Was it just him, or did the brunette's voice sound strange as he asked that simple, one word question?

"Why?  Isn't it obvious?  It's because if I get recognised, I usually get swamped by fans...  Don't get me wrong, I love our strong fan base, and I really appreciate the support they give us...  But sometime all I want is some time out.  Some time to be me, without having to worry who might be watching, and what they might say about me, what conclusions they might draw about me without ever knowing the full picture.  Without ever knowing the real me..." he trailed off, suddenly filled with a sense of deep regret for things that could have been, if only he could have acted with confidence...  If only he could have acted without having to worry about the reactions of those around him.  Of those watching him, even in his teenage years.  And his biggest regret...  His throat tightened, and he ducked his head between his shoulders, staring down at his feet as he walked along.

His heart ached as he thought of the thing he regretted most in his life...and how he wished that he could rectify it by just talking to the person walking beside him now, only he didn't dare...

_Coward.  A snide inner voice raged at him.  _Always such a coward...  Never strong enough...  Never good enough..._  He wanted to clap his hands over his ears, to block out that voice, though he prevented himself just in time, aware of how concerned his friend would be for him.  Aware that he would want to know what was wrong.  Aware that it was one answer that he could give, wouldn't give...  He closed his eyes briefly, thinking that really he shouldn't still have so much self-doubt, only the feeling had just never gone away..._

"Yama?" Taichi enquired softly, reaching out gently to touch his cheek.  Yamato looked up into his eyes automatically, and instantly wished that he hadn't, for he physically winced when he saw the concern held in the brunette's eyes.  And that only made the concern deepen.  "Hey, you've gone all pale..."

"Have I?" he said, trying to sound casual, but failing, as his heart just wasn't in it any more.  He wasn't sure how much longer he had the strength to keep so many of his feelings hidden from all those around him...

"Yeah."

"Oh." he said, not knowing what else to say in reply.  "Tai..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm fine.  Really." he smiled at the brunette, who still looked unconvinced.  He just hoped that it didn't look as fake as it felt.  "_Really_.  Stop worrying about me already."

"Hmm."

The blonde was grateful that they reached the cinema then, because he could tell from the look on his friend's face that he wasn't planning on dropping the issue so easily.  At least he'd have some time now to think of more convincing excuses...

Scanning the titles of the films being shown, he chewed his lower lip thoughtfully.

"Any ideas?"

"About what?"

"About which film to see?"

"Uh..."  Taichi looked up and read the options.  

_He hadn't even looked up at them when they had arrived?  Yamato was surprised, even though he was careful not to let that show outwardly.  _He must really have been worried...__

"Well?" he probed after a few moments of silence.

"Sorry Matt." the brunette sighed, his gaze dropping back down.  "Can't really decide...  Do you have any preference?"

"Nope."  Then he grinned.  "Come on then..." he said, heading for the doors.

"Hey!" he protested.  "But we haven't decided on the film yet!"

"So?"

"Bit hard to ask for tickets if we haven't decided yet, isn't it?"

"Well..." he smiled winningly, pushing open the doors, and giving Taichi no option but to follow him.  "That just gives me the perfect opportunity to try something out..."

"What-" the brunette began, but the blonde held a finger up to his lips to silence him as he wove his way through the people in the foyer, and over to one of the ticket booths.  He stopped in front of a bored looking ticket seller, the cinema being pretty quiet as people had stayed at home, and not ventured out because of the snow.  He cleared his throat and the man looked up.

"Yes?  How can I help you?" he asked, in a polite but uninterested tone.

"Two tickets please." Yamato smiled, wondering how long that bored look would last if this all played out to plan.

"Which film?" the man asked, turning to the computer, his hands poised over the keyboard, ready to call up the relevant information.

"The next one."

"Uh..."  Bingo!  Boredom already turning to bewilderment.  He'd have to play the next bit carefully though, else this could all very well go completely wrong...

"Two tickets for the next film please." the blonde said, careful to keep his tone polite, and not let the giggle that was building up in his chest break through.

"Uh, the next showing of...which film?"

"Just the next film."

"Uh..."

"How long until a film starts showing?  Any film, you understand."

"Uh..."  There was some frantic tapping of keys.  "There's a film due to start in five minutes?"  He looked back at Yamato, a puzzled frown creasing his forehead, obviously not knowing what to make of this peculiar stranger.

"Okay.  Two tickets for that please."

"Uh..." the man paused.  "Do you want to know what the film is?"

"No, but thanks all the same.  Just the tickets."

"Oh, uh, okay..."

"Thank you." the blonde smiled, and paid for them.  Then once he had the two small pieces of card, he grabbed Taichi by the arm and dragged him away from the desk before allowing his to speak.

"Yamato?!" the brunette exclaimed as soon as he was able to.

"Yes?" Yamato said innocently, presenting their tickets to the cinema staff who directed them to the correct screen.

"What was _that all about?!"_

"Well..." he shrugged, and his voice dropped to a whisper as they walked through the right door and made their way to their seats.  "We couldn't decide on the film, and we weren't really all tat bothered anyway, so it just seemed like the simplest solution.  Saved us from choosing one only to find that the next screening wasn't for a couple of hours."

"But..."

"Yes?"

"You've got to feel sorry for that poor bloke, though!  Did you see the look on his face?"

"Yeah." he laughed.  "Stopped him from being so bored though, didn't it?"

"I guess..."  Taichi also laughed.  Then he peered at the ticket stub in his hand.  "What film is this anyway?"

"Um..." the blonde looked at his own ticket stub for the first time, the single word printed on it not really helping.  "No idea I'm afraid...  But it doesn't really matter." he added as the lights dimmed, and the film trailers began to play on the big screen.  "We'll find out soon enough!"

They settled back more comfortably in their seats, and watched the images flash across the screen, listening to the sound of explosions and whispered words that nevertheless echoed around the movie theatre.  Yamato was happy enough to just sit there, not really watching or listening, but sunk deep in his own thoughts...  Or at least until an intrusive voice invaded, dragging him unwillingly back to reality.

"Hey you, mister!" the voice continued in a hiss that was probably meant to leave everyone else undisturbed, but failed miserably in that task.  The sound was too sharp for the prevalent hush, and very audible because of it.  "Yeah, you mister, the one in the baseball cap."

The blonde sunk deeper into his seat, recognising the tones as those of someone who was pissed off about something, and determined to take that aggression out on someone.

"You in the fucking baseball cap!" the voice continued, rising from the hiss and getting steadily louder, the speaker more or less directly behind the seat in which Yamato sat.  "I know you can hear me, so don't ignore me!"

Taichi turned round and glared coldly at the speaker, and the singer groaned inwardly.  A confrontation was the last thing that he wanted...

"Tai, just leave it." he muttered, hoping that his friend would just drop it.  No such luck.

"Excuse me." the brunette said to the owner of the annoyed voice.  The blonde didn't want to turn round to see what the speaker looked like, in case someone also noticed what _he looked like.  "Exactly where do you get off talking to my friend like that?"_

"Keep out of this." he was advised with a contemptuous snort.  "It doesn't concern you.  It's between me, and him.  Hey!  Don't just ignore me you arrogant bastard.  Take your fucking baseball cap off because you're blocking my view!"

Yamato sunk further into his seat.  The guy behind him was obviously just looking for a fight, and he wanted no part of it.  It was only a baseball cap, not exactly hugely obstructive or anything, and he was sunk so low in his seat that he was forming less of an obstruction than if he had been sitting normally, minus hat...  But obviously that wasn't good enough for the jerk behind him.  The man made a disgusted sound in his throat, and lent forward and whipped the hat off the blonde's head.

As the silken strands settled, gleaming even in the dull light of the cinema, Yamato heard gasps coming from those in rows further forward, from those who had turned round to find out what the commotion was.  He sighed, and sat up straight in his chair.  People had already seen, and recognised his face, so there was no point in attempting to hide any more.

"Oh shit." he said mildly, just as one shocked person finally managed to find their voice, and the first awed voice rang out.

"Kami-sama!  That's _Yamato Ishida_!"

_To be continued..._

~

So...  Care to review and let me know what you think?  *clasps hands together and looks hopeful*  I _am currently working on Part 6 of Edition 1, which should have a nice little cliff-hanger ending of sorts...  *chortles*  Complicate matters, me?  *tries to look innocent*_

…

Ugh.  Sorry, new development.  Still working on the 6th part of Edition 1…but my computer's undergone a crash, and my life is deciding to do a very good imitation of hell at the moment, so it may be some time coming.  -_-  Gomen.  If I could change things I would…  But writing is not exactly a priority at the moment.

But would you please leave a review?  I think I kinda need something to cheer me up at the moment…  u_u

Jheya xxx


	6. Dreaming

1st July 2003

Kyaaaa...  Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out!  Exams and an increased workload rather took it's toll...  ^^;;  And then it overran as well, from how long I was expecting it to be.  *shrug*  Ah well.  Should hopefully be a bit more cheerful than the past few have been...but you decide.  Here goes...

****

**Late Night Radio (Edition 2) Pt. 6**

**Dreaming**

~Jheya Ono~

"Yeah, what is it?" Yamato almost snarled into the phone as he answered a call.  He ran his fingers through his blonde locks and sighed, praying for god, any god, to give him strength.  He really didn't want to have to deal with his management company.  Not when he was meant to be taking a well-earned break.  And especially not _now_...

After having fled the cinema, he and Taichi had ended up in a small cafe, and once there they had started to talk about the past...  A topic that had been inevitable really, even though it was painful...or at least held the promise of being painful.  The blonde had finally dared to ask his friend a little about what he had been up to over the last five years, asking the questions carefully, hesitantly, because he wasn't sure that he really _wanted to know the answers that had remained unknown for so long..._

_Bullshit.  His mind helpfully provided him with.  _Of course you want to know what the answers are.  You're just afraid of what those answers might be...__

He was pretty sure that outwardly he seemed reasonably calm, even as he raged against that inner voice.  What it was saying was perfectly true, but dammit, that did _not_ make it any easier to deal with...

He could almost hear the person on the other end of the phone recoil from his unexpectantly violent response, and mentally smacked himself one.  Way to go...  What happened to professionalism?  To getting the job done with no unnecessary display of emotion, just like he had been taught to do after a few unfortunate temper flare-ups during press-conferences...?  Where had all that gone?  Why, straight out the window as soon as it came to any matter concerning Taichi by the looks of things...

It was true.  The logic and reason that he was usually so good at always seemed to vanish whenever he was around the brunette...  That lack of common sense was largely responsible for the totally stupid and often utterly hilarious stunts the two friends had pulled when they had been younger...  A small smile tugged at the blonde's lips as he remembered a few of the more outrageous ones...and then winced as he also remembered just how often those same stunts had ended rather painfully.

While Yamato loved the spontaneous and reckless streak that Taichi's company brought out in his personality, it wasn't the most useful thing at times...  Damn inconvenient at others.

_Like when I'm meant to be behaving professionally...  Like now__ in fact, when I'm meant to be talking__ to my management company, rather than nearly biting their heads off for merely calling me and interrupting a conversation!  He thought wearily, momentarily closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.  _I mean it's not like they _knew_ that they were interrupting something...  It's not like they were doing it on purpose...__

"Er, Ishida-san?" a voice squeaked nervously in his ear, and Yamato realised that he hadn't been paying the blindest bit of attention to anything other than his own internal dialogue, even though he still had his cell phone clamped to one ear.  "Um...  Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here..." he sighed heavily, trying to drag his thoughts into some semblance of order so that they wouldn't drift again.  "Sorry...  What were you saying?"

"Oh, erm..." the woman on the other end of the line cleared her throat in an attempt to get the squeak out of it.  Not his manager, he couldn't ever imagine _her_ squeaking, it sounded like her secretary...  He recognised the voice in any case, but was currently unable to think of the name that went with it.  The singer frowned slightly, wondering why he was being called so late...

"Um, hey..." he interrupted, as the woman still hadn't quite collected herself.  "How come you're calling so late?  It's out of usual office hours..."

"I tried calling earlier Ishida-san, several times in fact, but there was no answer..."  There was no hint of reproach in her voice, but Yamato grimaced anyway.  Damn, damn, damn!  He should have remembered to check his phone for missed calls, what with having slept most of the day away...  But he hadn't, too caught up with the whirl of emotions at having unexpectedly found his missing friend again.  He wouldn't have even gotten this call now if his phone hadn't so happened to be in the pocket of the coat he had chosen to wear due to the cold weather.

_Should have worn a different coat.  He thought wryly.  _Then I wouldn't have known I had a call, and with how distracted I've been today, I doubt I'd have even realised that I'd missed some calls for a few days yet...  Although if they're _still__ trying to get hold of me at this hour, it looks like it's got to be something reasonably important, so maybe it's just as well I had my phone with me..._

A part of him railed against that thought, saying that no, dammit, he wanted to talk with Taichi!  But thankfully, some of his absent professionalism seemed to be coming back to him, and he could push that part of himself to one side for the moment, and concentrate on the woman's words as she continued to speak.

"Hironobu-san would have called you herself..." she continued nervously.  "She _was_ trying to call you earlier, and it would be her calling now...  Only she had a prior evening engagement that she had to go to..."

"It's fine, I understand." she said soothingly, knowing how busy his manager was, and how many formal occasions she was obliged to attend either on the behalf of her clients or her company...  Something he didn't envy her for in the least.  He would have hated it if he had been forced to attend so many staged events, and so was grateful that Irina Hironobu understood his feelings and spared him from as many as possible.  His first management company hadn't, wanting to show off their poster boy at every possible event...  One reason that the Teenage Wolves had quickly switched to Irina's company early on in their career.

"So what did you need to talk to me about?" he asked.

"Oh, Hironobu-san wanted to remind you that as you have a photo-shoot early tomorrow morning, you ought to have an early night-"

"What?" he interrupted.  "What photo-shoot?"

He was vaguely aware at having frozen, that his voice was tense and that Taichi was looking at him questioningly, confused by his reaction...  But he paid these things little attention as his mind raced.  Photo-shoot?  There had never been a photo-shoot scheduled...  Had there?

"Um..."  There was the sound of nervous movement.  "I'm afraid that I'm not in the office at the moment, Ishida-san, so I don't have the files with me.  I can't currently remember which one, but you're scheduled to have a photo-shoot for a magazine tomorrow.  Hironobu-san has booked a limousine to take you from the hotel to the studio, so you needn't worry about transport..."

"Shit..." he muttered, closing his eyes and leaning on the table in front of him, one hand against his temple.  Even with his eyes closed, he could tell when Taichi moved.  A moment later he felt a hand briefly touch his arm.

"Matt?" the brunette asked, voice concerned.  "Are you okay?  What's the matter?"

"Don't worry..." he said quietly, moving the phone away from his mouth momentarily.  "It's nothing much.  Just something I wasn't aware of..."

"Ishida-san?" the secretary queried.

"Uh, listen..." he said, shifting the mouthpiece back over to his mouth.  "Is there a way of rescheduling or...?"

"I'm afraid not, Ishida-san.  It has to be tomorrow."

"Damn."

The blonde played with a few strands of his hair whilst he thought.

"Right." he finally sighed.  "But I'm bringing a friend with me."  It wasn't a request, it was a statement, and his tone left no room for argument.  "What time's the limo coming?"

"Scheduled for 6am."

"Ah hell..." he groaned.  "I should call it a night about now then..."

"Sorry, Ishida-san..."

"Don't be.  It's not your fault.  Thanks for calling with the warning."

"No problem, Ishida-san.  Good night."

"Good night..."

He hung up, and let the phone fall from his fingers to land with a clatter on the table in front of him.

"Damn it all to hell and back again..." he muttered under his breath.

"Matt?" Taichi asked, and Yamato shifted his gaze away from the tabletop to focus on his friend.  "What's the matter?  What was that phone call about?  Are you okay?  What's happening?  Where are you going tomorrow-"

The blonde held up a hand to cut off the frantic flow of words.

"First off, _I'm not going anywhere tomorrow, __we are.  Well..." he paused and rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling tired.  "That is, I __have to go, but if you don't want to, you don't have to..."_

"I'm going with you." the brunette immediately replied, and the singer's spirit rose a little at the complete lack of hesitance in his friend's voice.  Taichi gave a little snort of laughter a moment later, and Yamato looked at him questioningly.

"What?"

"Just...  I guess I better ask what I just let myself in for, huh?" he said, grinning ruefully.

"Oh, it's nothing bad..." he said, radiating innocence.  "It's just a minor matter of you having to strip down to your underwear on stage..."

From across the table Taichi stared at him speechlessly for a long moment before uttering a strangled choking noise as a mouthful of hot chocolate went down the wrong way.

"Tai!" the blonde scooted round to the other side of the table and thumped his friend on the back until the coughing fit passed.

_I should probably be looking concerned...  The singer thought idly, whilst doing no such thing.  A cheerful grin curved his lips instead as he fought back a laugh.  _But I can't.  This is just too funny, too much like old times...__

"Th-that's..." the brunette managed between gasps for air, now that he could actually breathe again.  "That's your idea of...nothing bad?!"

"It was a joke!" he protested, trying and failing in his attempt not to snigger whilst doing so.  "Jeez, Tai...  I thought that even _you would get that!"_

"Baka..." Taichi grumbled, massaging his throat.  "You have to go and say that whilst I'm _drinking something, don't you?  Now I've got hot chocolate in the lungs, so if I end up drowning later you do realise that it'll be all your fault."_

"Eh?"

"Something like that anyway." he said, waving a hand dismissively.  "Hot chocolate...  It's a liquid, same as water.  Water in the lungs; means that you drown, yeah?"

"You didn't inhale that much!"

"Ah, but you never know..." the brunette was grinning as he spoke, and Yamato knew that his friend found the whole situation just as funny as he did.  "It all counts right?  I might have inhaled the critical value that means when I lie down to sleep tonight, it'll all accumulate in a certain way that means that I can no longer absorb oxygen.  Then; BAM!  I'll have drowned."

"Drowning in hot chocolate..." the blonde grinned.  "Well, I guess that there are worse ways to go..."

"Any case...  If that was the joke answer, then what have I really let myself in for tomorrow?"

"As I said, nothing bad." he shrugged.  "Actually, I'd be extremely surprised if you'll be doing anything but watching.  You'll probably get pretty bored...  You sure you want to go?  I don't mind if you stay behind and sleep..."

"Matt, stop trying to put me off already!  Yes!  I want to go!  Providing you stop avoiding the question and actually get round to _telling_ me what that thing is that you have to go to!"  Taichi pouted petulantly and Yamato couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, okay...  It's a photo shoot."

"Really?"  The pout vanished to be replaced by a smile.  "Cool!"

"Not really..." he sighed, making a face.  "Early starts, lots of hanging about, and about a gazillion outfit changes...  Having brushes and things poked in my face for hours on end is _not_ one of my favourite ways to spend my time."

"Hmm...  But _I've_ never been to one before." the brunette mused.  "So it still sounds pretty cool to me.  Hang about...  What did you mean by 'early starts', and that I could 'stay behind and sleep' if I wanted to?  Exactly _how early are we talking here?"_

"To get to the studio on time a limo's been ordered to collect us from the hotel at 6am.  Uh...  That means that I'll have to wake up at about 5am, possibly a bit before.  But if you can still get ready as quickly as I remember you doing when we were kids,  you can probably sleep in a bit longer than me." he added, when he saw the growing look of disbelief on his friend's face.

"_How early?!  Okay, maybe not so cool then..."_

"Hey, I've done worse than this." he shrugged.  "There have been occasions when I've had to do a shoot after an awards ceremony or something.  Problem with doing that is that I'm obliged to go to the after show party, which sometimes doesn't end 'til...maybe 3am.  Then I've got to get back to wherever I'm staying at the time, then be up before 5, possibly by means of having a bucket of ice-cold water dumped on me...  And _then_, having had practically zero sleep, I then get told to 'smile for the camera'.  Now _that is hell."_

Taichi winced.

"Ouch."

"Yeah.  So, I was wondering...  I mean, I know you probably think it's kinda early and all..." Yamato said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.  "But would you mind if we headed back now?  I'd completely forgotten about this shoot until I got that call, and I'm kinda going to need the sleep so I don't snarl at everyone in sight tomorrow..."

"Sure!"

The brunette immediately downed the last of his drink and rose to his feet.

"Thanks, Tai."

"Don't be daft!  You have nothing to thank me for."

The blonde just smiled at him, and walked over to the counter to pay their bill.  He hummed quietly as the cashier rang up the total and got him his change, his mood lighter now than it had been at the beginning of the evening.  He had Taichi with him now, and their recent bout of silliness showed that, deep down, not all that much had changed between them.  And he was grateful for that, even if...  Even if he still didn't understand just what had gone so wrong between them five years ago.

He still wanted to know; hell yes.  But the urgency he had felt about finding out the answers had passed for now, replaced with a calm born of tiredness in preparation for the early morning to come.  It could wait a little longer.

"Your change, Ishida-san."

"Thank you."

He smiled at the girl, who blushed pinkly, before moving back to Taichi's side, and together heading towards the exit.

"U-um...  Ishida-san?  Y-Yamato?"

The singer stopped and turned to see the boy who had served them their drinks earlier standing behind them, blushing furiously with his eyes averted.

"Yes?" he said good-naturedly.  "Uh...  Kichiisai, wasn't it?"

The boy nodded, and coloured even further at Yamato having remembered his name, even though it couldn't have been more than half an hour since the blonde had requested it so he could sign the autograph he had been asked for.

"Um, h-hai.  I was wondering...  I m-mean, that it, if it wouldn't be too much trouble..." he stammered nervously, and Yamato just waited for him to finish, not hurrying or rushing the already flustered teenager.  "I, uh...  Could I possibly...  I mean, you don't have t-to if you don't want to, obviously, but...  Could I...  Get a ph-photo taken...with y-you?"

"Sure!  Why not?" the singer said, grinning widely.  "Taichi, would you do the honours?"

"What?  Oh yeah, sure!" his friend grinned, moving from his side to take the camera.  The brunette gave the boy a good-natured shove in Yamato's direction, for Kichiisai seemed to have frozen in shock at actually having had his request agreed to.  He stumbled a few paces before he managed to regain his balance, approaching the blonde carefully as if he couldn't quite believe that this was real.

"You're not dreaming..." the singer murmured in the boy's ear once he was close enough, and suppressed a laugh as a jump and a widening of the eyes in surprise told him that he'd guessed the boy's thought correctly.

"You two ready?" Taichi asked, looking through the camera lens and backing away to get them into shot better.

"Not quite..." he called back.  He glanced at the boy beside him, saw awe and adoration showing so clearly in hazel eyes, and with it nervousness...  And he knew that he was the one who would have to move closer, as the teenager was too timid to do so himself.  He didn't mind.  In fact he couldn't help but smile as he sidled that little bit closer, and he knew that Kichiisai saw him doing so by the way a blush once again rose on his cheeks.  He preferred this type of fan to the ones that were the polar-opposite, too loud, overconfident, and forever trying to grab hold of his backside...

"You ready?" he asked, as he slung one arm casually about the boy's shoulders.  He felt an arm very tentatively sneak about his waist, resting there lightly, ready to move away instantly should Yamato show any sign of protest...  Not that he would.  The singer had endured far worse situations without his smile ever slipping from his face.  He actually found the whole thing quite...sweet with the boy's hesitance, although if he were to blush any more, he might just spontaneously combust before the photo could be taken...

"Ready?" he asked again, amusement dancing in his eyes from the thoughts running through his head.

"Un..."  The soft sound of affirmation was almost lost beneath the background noise of the cafe.

"We're all set, Tai!" he called, signalling to the brunette.

"Okaaaay...  Big cheesy grins now, both of you!" Taichi joked, and the blonde gave him a withering look for his efforts.  Even so, his smile was back in place before the flash went, and the picture was taken, only with perhaps a touch more amusement showing than had been there before.

"Thank you..." Kichiisai murmured quietly, but earnestly, his shy smile amazed and delighted.

"No problem!" Yamato replied with a wink, and the warm arm about his waist shifted, and began to draw away.  But the movement was reluctant, the teenager obviously not wanting to let go, not wanting this dream to end...  And the singer could sense another question, hovering unasked in the air, the boy not willing to push his luck with another request, but all the same wanting to ask so badly, knowing that this chance would likely never come again...

"So should I end this the traditional way?" he asked lightly.

"The...traditional way?"

"With a kiss on the cheek."

It was almost comical, the way the boy's eyes widened in delighted comprehension, realising that what he had so wanted to ask, but had been too scared to do so...  Realising that the impossible dream was being offered to him, without his having needed to say a single thing...

_If something so small could make someone this happy...  How could I not offer that to them?_

A small, nearly imperceptible nod answered his question.  The gesture would have been unnoticeable, had he not been looking for it, but the colour that rose on Kichiisai's face was glaringly obvious.

As he leant down a little to lightly brush his lips against one flushed cheek, he wondered if the boy would simply burst into flames at this, even though it was fleeting, as innocent as a kiss could get...

He was nearly right.

With his arm still about the boy's shoulders he had been aware that the teenager had been trembling slightly, body tense due to nervousness and suppressed emotion...  But all that suddenly stopped, as he drew back from that slight contact, and he was only grateful that he had quick reaction times, as Kichiisai simply fainted clean away in his arms...

* ** *

"I _still don't believe it!" Taichi exclaimed as Yamato opened the door to the penthouse suite and they both entered.  The blonde gave a long-suffering sigh, and gave his friend as despairing look._

"Tai, that's about the _only_ thing you've said the _entire way back here!  What's not to believe anyway?  It's not like the world blew up or neon polka-dot puppies fell down from the sky or anything...  The kid just fainted!"_

"Yeah, but..." he gestured randomly in the air, unable to verbalise what he meant.  Yamato just looked at him coolly, and simply arched an eyebrow and waited for the brunette to continue.

"Well, it's just..." Taichi looked at him demandingly.  "Well, _you_ know...right?"

"Assume for the moment that I'm stupid and I don't." he remarked dryly, and got rewarded by a glare.

"Fine, be difficult why don't you..."

"Don't mind if I do."

"ANYWAY," the brunette continued loudly, as if the blonde hadn't spoken.  "Anyway...  It's just that one second he was there, and he was standing upright perfectly fine, even if he _was_ the colour of a tomato...  Then the next he just keels over and you have to catch him so that he doesn't hit the floor!  You can't tell me that _that's normal behaviour?!"_

He shrugged elegantly.

"It happens."

"You're not telling me that you're _used_ to people fainting on you, are you?"

"Not used to it, no.  It still comes as kinda a shock whenever someone just faints like that...  But it's happened before, it's no big deal!"

"It is a big deal!"

"Why?!"

"Because..." Taichi began, and then floundered for words.  "It just is!"

"Tai-" Yamato said warningly, his patience beginning to wear a little thin, but the brunette interrupted him before he could finish.

"You kissed him!"

"I...what?" was his incredulous response as he stared slack jawed at his friend.  The brunette blushed as he realised what he had just blurted out, evidently not having meant to have phrased it _quite that way._

"Well, on the cheek..." he amended weakly.

"It's a fairly common request."

"But..."

"But what?!" the blonde couldn't help but sound a little angry.  Just what was the big problem?!  Why did Taichi seem to be making such a big deal over something that really wasn't anything?

"...but he was a boy..."

"Why..."  His train of thought suddenly hit a brick wall at that quietly murmured reply, not having expected a response anything like that.  "Why would that make a difference?"

The brunette shook his head slightly, quite obviously evading the question, but before Yamato could call him on it, he asked a question of his own.

"Do they all faint on you?" he demanded.

"...the fans?" he asked, momentarily confused at the sudden switch in conversation from the route he had wanted to go down.  Taichi nodded.  "Well, not _all of them, obviously, but quite a few of them I guess.  I never really thought to keep count or anything!" he added in defence of his somewhat vague answer._

"The boys too?"

"Some of them, yes.  Look, where is this leading?" he snapped, starting to feel exasperated by the peculiar nature of the questions he was being asked.  The brunette, however, would not be distracted from whatever course he had decided to follow.  Whatever that course was...

"Are those the ones you kissed?"

"I don't-" the blonde began automatically, then stopped and actually considered the question.  "Like I said before, I never kept stats or anything...  But thinking about those I remember meeting on our last tour...  I guess a significant number of those who fainted were amongst the ones I...kissed..." he answered, sounding surprised.  He'd never really connected the two before...  

Taichi gave a snort of laughter.

"What now?"

"Ishida Yamato...  Exactly _what kind or narcotic do you regularly apply to those magic lips of yours?" he asked sweetly._

"I don't...  What?" he blinked.  "What are you talking about?  I don't put _anything on my lips!  It's just...me..."  He glared at the grinning brunette.  "You really enjoy making me sound as if I have a gigantic ego, don't you?"_

"Naw...  I just like having you _admit to having a gigantic ego!"_

"Baka..." he muttered.  "Any case, a narcotic wouldn't work." the blonde added more loudly, trying to distract his grinning friend.

"Why not?"

"Well, it's not like I ever kissed them _properly_, it was only ever a peck on the cheek, like with that kid at the cafe. So there'd be no way for the drug to enter the body.  I suppose there could be something that only requires contact with the skin to work...  But in order for something to act _that_ quickly, with only minimal contact...  _I'd be flat out unconscious on the floor before I ever got the chance to get near anyone!"_

"Hmm...  I suppose I'll have to agree with you on that point." Taichi admitted grudgingly, but the mischievous grin was back on his face a moment later.  "So no narcotics involved then.  I'll just have to go back to the theory that when all that glorious Ishida magic flows into a person via those pretty lips of yours, it makes them pass out, ne?"

"Taichi..."  Yamato spoke mock-fiercely, though the exasperation in his tone was genuine enough, his hands on his hips as he glared at his friend, and his gaze dancing merrily with an amusement he refused to let any other part of his body show.  "Even I'm not so dense as to fall for the same trick twice in a two minute interval!  My ego is not the size of a major planet no matter what you may personally think..."

"You know I don't really think that about you..." the brunette said softly, his teasing grin changing to a much gentler smile.  Almost...tender...

"Yeah, I know..." he smiled in return, arms dropping down to rest at his sides, and altering his stance subtly into a more relaxed pose.  "Still, sometimes I wish you'd stop teasing me about it, even if I do know that you're only joking..."

"Where would be the fun in that?" Taichi said lightly, tone amused.  Then abruptly he seemed to sober, and when he spoke again he sounded different, voice filled with an emotion that the blonde couldn't place, couldn't give a name to...  "Really?  You kiss them...  They faint?"

"Well, some of them..." he replied, sounding confused.  There was something else going on, some other question, a deeper meaning to the brunette's deceptively simple words...  Something he just couldn't quite see, and so couldn't understand, no matter how much he wanted to.

"So, that means if I were to be...  I would probably..."  The words were so softly spoken, the barest whisper, that Yamato nearly didn't hear them at all.

"Tai?" he frowned, moving towards his friend in concern.  Taichi's eyes snapped up to meet his, and from the way they widened, and the way his cheeks suddenly blazed scarlet, the blonde knew that the whispered words had never been meant to reach the air at all.  "What-"

"Nothing!"  The brunette answered too quickly, too loudly, confirming that something wasn't quite right even as he sought to negate it with that single word.  "Any case," he went on, changing the subject.  "Weren't you meant to be getting some rest so that you can impress everyone with your beauty tomorrow?  You'll have a hard time doing that if you're a grouch with bags under your eyes from too little sleep.  To bed with you now!"

He pointed imperiously towards the bedroom, and the blonde grinned at the bossy tone and manner his friend had adopted.

"You remind me so much of Naoko when you do that..." he laughed a little wistfully as he thought of the woman who was probably still attempting to restore order to the bomb site his home had likely become, due to the redecoration process it was currently going through.  He missed her...

With his thoughts thus occupied, he nearly missed the flicker of emotion that passed across Taichi's face.  He _did see it, but it was gone too quickly, hidden away before he had the chance to identify what it had been.  So fast that he almost wondered whether there had actually been anything there to see, whether if had been nothing more than the imaginings of an over-tired mind...  Almost.  What had he said to provoke that reaction?_

"Bed!" the brunette repeated emphatically, when Yamato made no move towards the bedroom door, pale eyebrows drawn slightly together as he tried to figure out the latest puzzle added to the growing mound.  He just knew he was missing something important, but he couldn't see what...

"Hang on a minute," the blonde said, as something else occurred to his already overtaxed brain.  "If I'm sleeping in there-"

"Where am I sleeping?" Taichi finished, and the singer nodded.  "On the sofa of course." he replied promptly.

"But..."  He began to protest, but quickly trailed off as he realised that he didn't have the words.  The massive king-sized bed was more than big enough for two...

_But how the hell am I meant to tell him that without sounding totally...wrong?!  It'd mean a comfortable night for us both, and it wouldn't bother me...  But I don't know if he'd want to hear that... he thought, mind clouded with indecision._

"Matt,"  The brunette spoke as the silence began to stretch onwards.  "Don't look so worried!  I'll be fine on the sofa!"  He smiled reassuringly, but Yamato felt inexplicably saddened that his dilemma had been misunderstood.  "I had the bed last time... And besides which, it's not me that has to look pretty tomorrow.  So there!" he added, as if that settled the matter, and his friend couldn't help but smile.

"Well, if you're sure..."

"I am!  Now will you get going?" he said severely, though his eyes gave him away.

The blonde smiled again, and finally moved, opening the bedroom door and heading purposely towards the wardrobes.

"I'll just get you some nightwear and the spare duvet and stuff...  It'll probably be a cold night..."

A short while later, and they were both tucked in for the night.  The bedroom door remained wide open, Yamato unwilling to have that separation between them, even though it made no sense as the fact remained that they were in separate rooms...  But he felt better without that extra boundary, even so.

"Night, Tai..." he called softly into the darkness.

"Night, Matt..." came the equally soft reply.

Yamato must have been more tired than he had realised, for with those words spoken the world soon faded away, and he drifted off into the welcoming arms of sleep...

* ** *

"Tai!"

Yamato sped up the stairs to the Yagami's apartment, taking the steps two at a time, having far too much energy coursing through his veins to have the patience to wait for the lift.  He skidded to a halt in front of his friend's door, nearly sliding past it due to the speed at which he had been moving at, and slightly out of breath, he began to pound rapidly on the wood.

"Tai!" he yelled excitedly.  "Tai, come on, open up!  You'll never _guess what's just happened!"_

He suddenly stopped hammering on the door as he belatedly realised that it was unlikely that Taichi was alone in the apartment, and that he sounded like a lunatic.  He fidgeted instead, almost dancing from one foot to the other, unable to keep from moving as excitement still bubbled through him.  The Teenage Wolves had been away for the past three days, taking part in a music festival, so he hadn't seen his friend in all that time...

Not a long length of time, by most peoples standards, three days being practically no time at all...  But the two friends usually saw each other every day, and were always round each others places, so three whole days seemed like a lifetime to the blonde eighteen-year-old...  And to him their separation seemed even longer than that, what with all that had happened, and all the news he was bursting to share.

It had been the first festival they had ever played in, and the biggest audience they had ever faced...  Admittedly few, if any, of the many thousands in the crowd would have been there specifically to see _them.  Most would have been there to see the other, more established bands, for the Teenage Wolves were only really just starting out in the professional music industry.  They'd been together for years, but they'd spent most of that time playing for friends, family, and at fairly small, unpublicised functions, just honing their skills to near perfection before trying for the big time.  However, the response they'd received whilst performing had been overwhelmingly positive.  It promised for even better things to come...  A promise that looked set to come true extremely soon, what with everything that had happened after the festival had been over..._

He executed another nervous jig as the door still showed no signs of opening.  What was taking Tai so long?!  Someone usually opened the door before this...right?  Unless, of course, everyone was out...

He swore quietly under his breath.  Dammit...  He probably should have checked they'd be in before he'd run all the way over and made enough noise to disturb the entire floor.  But who had the sense to call on ahead when they were as excited as he was?

Turning, he was about the head back home, rather more sedately then he had arrived, when there was a soft click, and he spun back round to see the door finally opening.  It didn't really register that the movement was slow, that something wasn't quite right, as the energy that had died down when he had thought that no one was at home flared immediately back into life.

"Tai!" he began, starting exuberantly forward...  But then suddenly stopped as the door opened a little further and he realised that it wasn't his friend, but Hikari.  Only the young brunette didn't look anything like he remembered her looking when he had last seen her, mere days ago.  Her face was pale, and her eyes dull and red-rimmed; she'd obviously been crying recently.  Her hair clung to her face in places, limp and lifeless...  And worst of all was the way she usually sparkled, so happy and full of life, that was gone, replaced with an all-pervading sorrow, and worry that he just didn't understand...

"Kari?  Hey...  What's wrong?" he asked softly, voice concerned.  He began to move towards her, wanting to take her into his arms to comfort her as due to their long friendship, she felt more like the sister he never had than his friend's sister...  But she held up a hand and shook her head slightly, keeping him away, and he stopped, looking confused.  "Kari?"

She shook her head again, and bit her lower lip slightly, a few new tears welling up in her eyes but not yet falling.

"Hikari..." he said softly, awkwardly, unsure of what to do or how to act.  Unable to imagine just what had gone wrong to cause such a reaction as this.

"You...  You don't know...  Do you?" she said quietly, and he couldn't help wince a little as he heard her voice, usually so soft and sweet, now with a raw edge from some unknown grief.

"Know what?" he asked, panic beginning to rise in him.  "I...  I only just got back a little while ago...  I just dumped my stuff at home and then ran over here to see Tai-"  He stopped, seeing her flinch.  "Tai...  What's happened?  What's happened to him?!"  There was a hysterical note to his voice, but he didn't care, couldn't help it as he tried to think just what could have gone wrong in the three days he had been absent for.

"I don't know...  No one knows...  He's just...gone..."

"What do you mean...gone...?"

The world seemed suddenly very far away, even his own voice sounding distant to him, and he wasn't really aware of his surroundings any more...  Could only hear the words that filled him with worry and dread, with no chink of sunlight to tell him that this was all just some stupid mistake...  That this was just a misunderstanding, it wasn't really real...

"Just that, Yamato, he's gone.  I don't know where...  He...he just vanished..."

He could easily hear the tears in her voice, but couldn't seem to focus, couldn't seem to concentrate...

"The...the police...  Have you contacted-"  He cut himself off as he saw her shake her head, and a touch of anger involuntarily entered his voice, even though he knew he shouldn't be angry.  "Well why not?!  He could be-"

"No...  He's fine as far as we know-"

"You can't _presume that if he's missing!  And who's this 'we'?  What if-"  He knew he was being irrational, that this was the last way he was supposed to act, but he couldn't seem to stop._

"Me...  My parents...  And he's not _missing_, even though no-one seems to know where he is, he's just _gone."  The way she said it, that distinction made his blood run cold, and his voice stuck in his throat.  "He...left a note.  Two days ago.  It just said that...  That he needed some space, and not to worry about him."  Hikari laughed a little bitterly before she continued.  "That's all.  Nothing more.  Some of his stuff's gone...  Clothes, his passport, a few other things...  And I'm just so __worried.  I don't know why...  I don't know where...  And if he's taken all that, it doesn't look like he's planning to come back any time soon..._

"We...  My parents...  I hoped that maybe...  Maybe _you'd_ know where he went..."

Yamato just shook his head dumbly.

"From your reaction just now...  I realised that you didn't." she said, her voice eerily emotionless.  "My parents have gone to your place, to ask you if you know where...  Your father told us that you'd be back about this time today.  You probably just missed running into each other...  We tried to get hold of you before, but no one could ever seem to find you when we called...  When you were at the festival.  I thought that...  We thought that if he'd told anyone where...  It'd be you."

Her flat, emotionless tone struck chills down his spine, and spoke of how, after the constant worry and fear of the past few days, she'd passed onto some calmer plateau beyond.

"I-I don't...  I don't..." the blonde tried to speak, but his thoughts were wildly disorganised, his voice sounding far too high-pitched and frantic to actually be his.  He backed away from her a few steps.

"Yamato?"

Hikari seemed to rouse out of the apathy she had sunk into after her initial show of emotion, and she looked at him with concern.

"Hey, Matt...  Are you okay?"

"No, no...  I..."  He continued to back away until his back bumped into the wall behind him, the other side of the corridor, putting as much distance between them as possible...  As if by doing so, it would make her words less true.  "There's nothing...  No one you can call to help?  The police...  Can't they send out a search or something?"

"He's eighteen...  An adult, despite his frequent immaturity...  So as far as they're concerned he can take off when he wants, to wherever he wants...  There's nothing they can do.  Matt!" she called out in alarm as the blonde's legs suddenly buckled, and slid out from under him, and he landed with a thump on the floor.

He looked up at her from where he sat, making no attempt to rise.  The elation he had felt mere minutes before, the happiness and excitement at having just been signed by a major record company, with a contract for an album, and maybe more to follow...  That had all vanished, swept away by a growing feeling of disbelief, of shock and worry...  And infinite sadness for all he had lost in his absence, far more lost than he had gained.

His vision blurred as tears welled up in his eyes; tears from a boy who had rarely cried, even as a small child, and who hadn't cried in years...  Tears that silently spilled over and rolled down his cheeks.

He felt a pair of arms wrap round him as Hikari knelt down beside him, holding him close.  Yamato buried his face in her shoulder as the tears continued to fall, unbidden, and even though she was so close to him he felt more alone than he had felt for seven years...  He felt isolated in a way he hadn't felt since he had been eleven, before he had met Taichi for the first time.

And the worst part...  The worst part was that he didn't know why it had all just so suddenly changed.  Didn't know what had made his world crack and fall apart...

He didn't know what he had done, to make it all go so wrong...

* ** *

"Matt?  Yamato?  Matt!"

Someone was shaking him by the shoulders, and opening his eyes, Yamato found the world to be blurred and out of focus.  For a moment he was disorientated, wondering if this was just the dream continuing...  But then he blinked, and his vision cleared, and his eyes focused on not Hikari, but Taichi, concern etched all over the brunette's face.

_Not still the dream then.  I'm awake now, right?  He had a momentary panic that __this was the dream, that Taichi was still gone from his life...  But the hands holding tight against his shoulders reassured and comforted him.  _Real.  The other part was the dream, not this...  Though it wasn't exactly a dream.  That happened too.  Five years ago now, but it still happened...  I was just dreaming.  Dreaming of a memory I wish I didn't have...__

"Matt?"  His friend was still looking at him with worry in his eyes, and the blonde realised that he hadn't yet spoken, or given any indication that he knew the brunette was there at all...

"Tai?" he asked weakly, then coughed to clear his throat, surprised at how unsteady his voice had sounded.  "What is it?  Is it time to go-"

"No."  Taichi shook his head, and slowly released his hold on the blonde's arms, but didn't move away.  "It's only...maybe one or so.  You can still get a good few more hours sleep, before you have to be ready."

"Then...?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbows.  He rubbed at his eyes with one hand, and then stared in surprise at his fingertips as they came away wet.

_Tears?_

"You...  You sounded as though you were having a bad dream..." the brunette murmured softly, and looked away.  "Sorry.  I...  I probably shouldn't have woken you, seeing as you have to be up so early-"

"No...  I think...  I'm glad you did." he interrupted his friend's self-recriminations, grateful that the details of the dream...the memory...  Grateful that it had all begun to fade from the surface of his mind, slipping somewhere deeper where it was not forgotten, but was at least not as painful.  "Thanks..."

"...No problem.  Well, I guess I had better let you get back to sleep then..."  He made as if to rise from where he had been sitting on the edge of the bed, but Yamato quickly grabbed hold of his sleeve, preventing him from doing so.  "Matt...what-"

"Stay...  Please?"  Although most of the dream had already vanished from his mind, that awful sense of loneliness that such memories had stirred up...  That still lingered with him, and he let go of Taichi's sleeve to wrap both arms around himself as he shivered.

"Hey...  Are you okay?"

"Yeah...  Maybe.  But...  Could you stay with me?  Just..."  He shivered again, even though the room wasn't all that cold.  "I just...don't want to be alone at the moment..."

He stared up at his friend, blue eyes silently pleading the brunette to just stay.  Taichi didn't have to say anything, he didn't have to do anything...  Just stay with him, until he fell asleep...

"Sure...  If you want me to stay...  Hell, I'm not going to just leave you, am I?" the brunette smiled, trying to lighten the atmosphere a little.  The blonde nearly winced at his choice of words, for they struck far to close to what he was trying to forget...

_But you did__ leave me once...  You just left, without a single word, without giving me a chance to figure out just what I did wrong..._

He shifted over on the bed, making room.  Taichi paused for a moment before climbing into bed beside the blonde, pulling the covers up as protection from the slight chill of the night air.

Once the brunette was settled, Yamato hesitated over what to do next.  There was only a small distance between them, only a few inches...  But he didn't want there to be even that slight separation between them.  He wanted to be close enough to touch, to know that his friend was solid, and real, and truly with him...

He struggled with indecision for a few moments more, unsure if what he wanted to do was a wise course of action...  But then he decided to just go for it, and snuggled up to Taichi's side, resting his head against his friend's chest.

For a long moment he lay perfectly still, not even daring to breathe as he waited for something to happen.  Should he have done that?  Had that move been the wrong one to make?  But then a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders, and he let out a sigh of relief, relaxing into that warm embrace.

"Thank you..." he murmured, not quite sure why he spoke.  His eyes felt heavy, and gradually they slid shut, not needing visual confirmation of his friend's presence any more...  Not when he could feel the gentle movement of the brunette's breathing.

And with the reassuring beat of Taichi's heart sounding in his ear from where the blonde's head lay against his chest, Yamato felt safe and secure, and gently slid into a trouble-free sleep...

_To be continued..._

~

Anyone feel sorry for Yama in that dream bit?  I felt so horrible...  ;_;  

Hmm...  So a bit of a mixed chapter.  Some angst, yes, but also some (hopefully) funny bits...and a nice squishy sappy ending that should hopefully act as insulation for the major angst that is likely to occur in the next chapter of this edition.  Poor Yama...  _

Review?  Please?  I'll try to be quicker with the next part of you do...  *laughs*


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